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SOUTHERN  BRAN      I, 

V InSilY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

LIBRARY, 

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RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  AND  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,    KYOTO,    FtTKUOKA,    SENDAI 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 


RURAL  COMMUNITY 
ORGANIZATION 


BY 
AUGUSTUS  W.  HAYES,  Ph.D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,   Tulane 
University  of  Louisiana 


47709 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO   PRESS 

CHICAGO,   ILLINOIS 

1921 


Copyright  1921  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  November  1921 


c     t    ,   >  1 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


hi 

c  &  b  /h> 
PREFACE 

This  study  is  an  attempt  to  arrive  at  the 
proper  local  unit  which  lends  itself  to  compre- 
k      hensive  community  organization.     It  is  main- 
tained throughout  the  investigation  that  this 
unit  should  have  a  sufficient  area  of  territory 
within  which  the  farm  population  may  have 
enough    cohesion    to    work    together,    enough 
«c     volume  of  numbers  and  of  wealth  for  the  crea- 
tion  of  necessary  institutions,   and   sufficient 
concentration  within  the  unit  to  allow  for  the 
distribution  of  needed  public  utilities. 
V  There  are  many  organizations  and  agencies, 

K    today,    looking   for    this   proper    unit.     They 
-;    realize  that  basic,  fundamental  rural  organiza- 
tion plans  can  be  formulated  only  upon  that 
unit  which  has  all  the  qualifications  necessary 
J    to  give  social  and  economic  success.     National 
<   and  state  aspects,  whether  political,  economic, 
^    or  social,  are  of  secondary  importance  to  the 
definition  of  this  unit.     The  goal  of  this  investi- 
gation, therefore,  is  the  determination  of  the 
local  unit  of  rural  organization,  together  with 
the  forces   to  be  organized  and  co-ordinated 
within  the  unit. 


vi  PREFACE 

It  is  felt  by  the  writer  that  a  study  of  this 
sort  should  be  prosecuted  in  full  recognition 
of  the  changing  psychology  of  the  farmer; 
that,  unless  this  phenomenon  is  kept  in  mind, 
the  reasons  for  casting  off  the  old  methods  and 
forms  and  taking  on  new  ones  will  not  become 
fully  evident.  He  is  convinced  that,  hereto- 
fore, not  enough  thought  has  been  given  to 
the  determining  factors  underlying  the  farmers' 
reactions.  The  proper  local  unit  must  be 
conceived  of  in  relation  to  the  fundamental 
socio-economic  conditions  of  the  country  and 
of  country  life. 

The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  obli- 
gations to  Dr.  Charles  J.  Galpin,  his  former 
instructor  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
and  now  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture.  It  was  under  Dr.  Galpin's  di- 
rection that  this  work  was  undertaken;  great 
credit  is  due  him  for  his  kindly  suggestions  and 
encouragement. 

Dr.  E.  C.  Branson,  of  the  department  of 
rural  social  science  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  has  been  a  constant  source  of  help 
in  the  studies  relating  to  the  North  Carolina 
Incorporation  Plan  and  features  of  the  country 
community  in  various  southern  states. 


PREFACE  vii 

President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield  and  Pro- 
fessor John  Phelan,  both  of  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College,  have  aided  very  materially 
in  my  getting  into  touch  with  some  of  the  most 
helpful  sources  of  information.  Superintendent 
0.  H.  Greist,  of  Randolph  County,  Indiana, 
and  Superintendent  C.  E.  Shutt,  of  Marshall 
County,  Iowa,  have  been  very  kind  and  help- 
ful in  assisting  the  writer  while  he  was  in 
their  counties. 

County  Agricultural  Agent  A.  L.  Hodgson, 
formerly  of  Randolph  County,  Indiana,  and 
now  of  Carroll  County,  Indiana,  gave  valuable 
assistance  in  the  social  study  of  Randolph 
County. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


I.  The  Need  of  a  Rural  Policy i 

II.  The   Significance   of  a   Changing   Rural 

Psychology 12 

A^lll.  The  Trade  Area 21 

IV.  The  Small  Rural  School  District    ...  31 

1.  Fairview  District 34 

2.  Big  Springs  School  District   ....  37 

^Y.  The    Rural    Community    Variously    Con- 
sidered         43 

1.  The  Rural  Parish 43 

2.  The  Township  Unit 47 

3.  New  England  Towns 49 

4.  The  Country  Community  of  the  South  52 

5.  The  North  Carolina  Incorporation  Plan  56 

VI.  The  Consolidated  School  District  ...  58 

1.  Randolph  County,  Indiana   ....  59 

2.  Marshall  County,  Iowa 71 

VII.  The   Consolidated   School  District — Con- 
tinued       81 

1.  Colorado 81 

2.  North  Dakota 82 

3.  Iowa 85 

4.  Illinois 86 

5.  Oklahoma 87 

6.  Summary 89 

VIII.  Organization  of  Forces  and  Methods  of 

Organization  within  the  Local  Unit     .  '  .  97 

Bibliography 114 

ix 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Appendix  A.  An  Act  of  the  North  Carolina 
Legislature  to  Provide  for  the  Incorpora- 
tion of  Rural  Communities  (Public  Laws, 
1919) 116 

Appendix  B.  Map  of  Randolph  County,  Indiana, 
Showing  Location  of  Consolidated  and 
Rural  Schools facing  124 

Appendix  C.  Map  of  Marshall  County,  Iowa, 
Showing  Location  of  Consolidated  and 
Rural  Schools facing  124 


LIST  OF  MAPS  AND  TABLES 


PAGE 


Map  i.  Fairview     School    District,     Sangamon 

County,  Illinois 35 

Map  2.  Big  Springs   School  District,    Sullivan 

County,  Indiana 38 

Map  3.  Big   Springs   Parish,    Sullivan   County, 

Indiana 45 

Tables  I-VI — Randolph  County,  Indiana 
I.  Comparative  Population  Statistics   ....       61 
II.  Some  Results  from  School  Consolidation     .      .       63 

III.  Name,    Location,   and   Area   of    Consolidated 

Districts 68 

IV.  Area  of  Townships  and  Density  of  Population      68 
V.  Consolidated  Districts,  Their   Urban  Centers, 

and  Chief  Community  Events 69 

VI.  Membership  in  Farmers'  Federation  and  Aver- 
age Attendance  at  Farmers'  Meetings  in  Con- 
solidated Districts 70 

Tables  VII-IX — Marshall  County,  Iowa 

VII.  Population  Statistics 73 

VIII.  General  Survey 74 

IX.  Project  Record 77,  78,  79 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY 

In  a  discussion  of  rural  organization  and 
allied  fields  the  lack  of  a  central  guiding  policy 
becomes  evident.  The  ideal  of  a  common 
goal  toward  which  all  the  various  and  numerous 
agencies  in  rural  work  are  striving  has  not  been 
formulated. 

Excellent  as  has  been  most  of  our  rural 
investigation  and  teaching,  even  to  profound 
achievement  in  some  fields,  there  has  been 
without  doubt  a  great  loss  in  effectiveness,  in 
duplication,  in  useless  controversy,  in  the  lack 
of  correlation,  and  in  an  understanding  of 
fundamental  rural  psychology  and  rural  rela- 
tions. Principles  once  discovered  do  not  need 
to  be  discovered  again  and  again;  we  find,  how- 
ever, that  there  has  been  great  waste  in  human 
and  financial  resources  in  that  way.  Proof  of 
this  is  seen  in  the  numerous  duplicate  inves- 
tigations and  researches,  accounts  of  which  are 
published  by  the  various  state  agricultural  col- 
leges and  experiment  stations  and  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  dealing  with 


2  RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

once  proved,  clear-cut,  and  definite  principles. 
A  further  proof  of  the  lack  of  a  policy  is 
seen  in  the  numerous  plans  of  our  exten- 
sion divisions  in  trying  to  reckon  with  the 
farmer  on  the  land.  They  know  they  are  try- 
ing to  help  him,  but  just  how,  and  why,  and 
for  what,  there  is  no  general  agreement. 

A  true  policy  must  have  a  certain  completeness 
about  it.  It  can  be  rather  definitely  expressed  and  under- 
stood. It  must  be  widely  and  generally  accepted;  it 
directs  efforts  and  governs  activities.  Government,  farmers' 
associations,  and  individuals  will  join  in  a  common  effort 
for  one  large  end,  intelligently,  earnestly,  co-operatively. 
This  sort  of  policy  we  do  not  have  in  America  today.1 

A  true  policy  will  recognize  the  inseparable 
interrelations  existing  between  the  social  and 
the  economic  activities  of  farm  life  and  not 
divorce  them.  It  will  seek  to  correlate  all 
agencies  so  that  the  development  of  these 
activities  will  advance  in  proper  degree  and 
in  proper  relation  to  one  another.  Any  other 
ideal  must  surely  result  in  dwarfed  and  retarded 
development.  The  economic  and  the  social  are 
inseparably  bound  up  in  the  farmer's  life;  in 
his  thoughts  and  plans  and  activities  he  never 
clearly  separates  the  one  from  the  other.     This 

1  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  The  Farmer  and  the  New  Day,  p.  85. 
(New  York:  The  Macmillan  Company,  1919.) 


THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY      3 

trait  of  rural  psychology  must  be  kept  always 
in  mind  in  the  formulation  and  execution  of 
any  policy. 

If  we  should  attempt  to  designate  a  rural 
policy  of  the  past  we  might  say  there  has  been 
more  or  less  conscious  effort  in  the  nation  at 
large    to    develop   along   the   following   lines: 

1.  To  increase  agricultural  production,  chiefly  by  open- 
ing for  agricultural  use  as  much  land  as  possible  and  settling 
it  as  rapidly  as  possible;  but  also  by  education,  exhortation, 
expert  advice  and  government  subsidies  in  special  instances; 

2.  To  encourage  one-family  farms  owned  by  those 
who  till  them; 

3.  To  increase  as  much  as  possible  our  exports  of 
agricultural  products,  both  new  and  manufactured.1 

As  we  look  back  upon  our  history,  we  find 
in  this  policy  many  things  calling  for  com- 
mendation, and  many  calling  for  regret.  This 
sort  of  ideal  helped  us  subdue  a  wild,  raw 
country,  develop  and  bring  it  to  a  foremost 
place  among  the  nations.  It  helped  us  rear 
upon  this  land  the  most  virile  and  aggressive 
people,  in  the  main,  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
It  has  implanted  strongly  in  the  heart  and  mind 
of  the  American  farmer  the  ideal  of  landowner- 
ship  and  all  the  strength  of  character  and 
conservatism  that  go  with  it. 

*Ibid. 


4  RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

On  the  other  hand,  this  sort  of  policy  has 
revealed  glaring  weaknesses  in  its  scope  and 
aims.  It  has  given  us  no  definite  land  policy 
with  proper  plans  for  land  settlement  accord- 
ing to  differences  in  productiveness  of  soil  and 
human  abilities.  It  offered  no  plans  or  policy 
relating  to  soil  conservation,  credit  facilities, 
for  community  development,  marketing  and 
distribution  of  farm  products.  There  are  no 
plans  for  the  co-ordination  of  the  institutions 
of  the  farmers'  local  unit  with  those  of  the 
larger  unit,  such  as  county,  state,  and  nation. 
There  are  no  plans  for  co-operation  between 
town  and  country.  Probably  most  fundamen- 
tal of  all,  there  is  no  policy  relative  to  the 
development  of  local  institutions  of  the  farmer, 
no  definition  of  their  natural  sphere,  and  no 
endeavor  to  assist  him  in  and  through  their 
medium. 

As  a  consequence  of  these  latter  failures 
there  have  been  countless  attempts  to  connect 
the  farmers  in  educational,  co-operative,  reli- 
gious, and  political  ways  with  general  advance- 
ments in  the  world  at  large.  We  are  now  just 
beginning  to  locate  our  troubles.  A  policy 
framed  upon  an  understanding  of  the  farmer's 
psychology,    upon   a   knowledge   of   his   local 


THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY      5 

community  and  of  his  institutions,  would  have 
prevented  very  many  conflicting  aims,  much 
resultless  effort,  and  much  misunderstanding 
of  the  conservatism  of  the  farmer. 

A  rural  policy  we  should  have  which  is 
broader  than  a  mere  statement  of  plans.  It 
must  be  conceived  in  the  light  of  the  mistakes 
of  the  past,  the  developments  of  the  present, 
and  the  needs  of  the  future.  A  comprehensive 
rural  policy  will  not  consider  agriculture  and 
country  life  narrowly,  as  something  to  be 
fostered  and  aided  for  its  own  sake,  but  as  a 
vital  part  of  a  great  society,  as  one  of  the 
departments  of  American  life  the  development 
and  growth  of  which  must,  for  the  good  of  all, 
be  co-ordinated  and  related  to  every  other 
department. 

In  this  policy,  rural  organization  will  play 
a  very  large  part.  The  day  of  the  individualist 
farmer  has  passed.  Farmers  must  co-operate 
as  never  before;  co-operation  takes  its  highest 
form  through  organization.  Effective  organi- 
zation must  include  persons  of  common  inter- 
ests, common  aims,  and  defmiteness  of  purpose. 
Conscientious,  searching,  painstaking  effort 
must  be  made  to  locate  the  areas  of  natural, 
comprehensive  rural  communities,  and  to  apply 


6         RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

the  tenets  of  a  policy  upon  such  a  basis,  fitting 
all  teaching,  all  plans  and  purposes  to  the 
particular  local  environment,  both  physical  and 
human. 

The  ultimate  need  of  the  open  country  is  the  develop- 
ment of  community  effort  and  of  social  resources 

There  is  a  general  lack  of  wholesome  societies   that  are 

organized  on  a  social  basis There  is  need  of  the 

greatest  diversity  in  country  life  affairs,  but  there  is  equal 
need  of  a  social  cohesion  operating  among  all  these  affairs 
and  tying  them  all  together.1 

There  must  be  a  definition  of  aims,  a  set 
of  principles,  a  proper  representation  of  the 
separate  forces  working  in  the  rural  field.  A 
program  should  be  arranged  reaching  clearly 
from  the  highest  and  most  complex  rural 
governmental  and  state  institution  to  the 
farmer  on  the  land.  This  program  will  set 
the  goals  for  the  different  fields  of  endeavor; 
it  will  outline  methods  of  procedure.  Selected 
representatives  from  all  the  different  fields  of 
work  should  help  in  framing  this  program.  In 
such  a  way  it  will  be  based  upon  actual  needs 
and  definite  information.  Proper  machinery 
must  be  erected  for  vitalizing  the  program,  for 
its  administration  and  perpetuation. 

1  Report  of  the  Commission  on  Country  Life,  p.  107.  (New 
York:  Sturgis  and  Walton  Company,  1911.) 


THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY      7 

In  the  words  of  Professor  E.  L.  Morgan,  we 
find  stated  the  following  elements  of  a  correct 
conception  of  a  rural  policy : 

....  The  goal  in  country  life  organizations  is  such 
an  understanding  and  relationship  of  persons,  forces  and 
agencies  in  a  given  area,  whether  community,  county,  state 
or  nation,  as  accomplishes  for  that  unit  the  most  systematic 
and  progressive  correlation  of  those  forces  and  agencies 
that  make  for  the  sound  development  of  a  satisfying  life 
for  rural  people,  and  for  the  adjustment  of  their  highest 
welfare  to  the  common  good.1 

Important  contributions  to  the  framing  of 
a  rural  policy  have  been  made  by  some  of  our 
leading  rural  thinkers  of  the  day.  Compre- 
hensive state  policies  have  been  worked  out 
in  certain  fields,  which,  within  themselves,  are 
near  models  for  the  framing  of  a  broader  and 
all-inclusive  policy.  As  an  illustration  the 
writer  would  refer  to  the  "Illinois  System  of 
Permanent  Agriculture,"  conceived  of  and 
developed  by  the  late  Dr.  Cyril  G.  Hopkins,  of 
the  University  of  Illinois.  Here  is  a  true  policy 
with  respect  to  the  maintenance  of  soil  fertil- 
ity, a  policy  with  a  definite  goal,  e.g.,  a  per- 
manent,  satisfying,   remunerative  agriculture; 

1  Proceedings,  First  National  Country  Life  Conference,  Balti- 
more, p.  138.  (Ithaca,  N.Y.:  National  Country  Life  Association, 
1919.) 


8         RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

a  policy  with  a  specific  program,  namely,  the 
education  of  all  the  people  connected  with 
the  land  to  the  needs  of  soil  conservation  and 
the  ways  and  means  of  securing  the  same. 
Here  is  a  policy,  at  the  base  an  economic 
conception,  but  which  recognizes  that  a  people 
cannot  progress,  cannot  build  worthy  institu- 
tions, cannot  even  hold  their  own  status  with 
ever  declining  soil  fertility.  The  program  of 
this  policy  involves  the  taking  of  the  most 
complete  inventory  of  the  stock  of  fertility  in 
soils  ever  undertaken  by  any  institution.  In 
carrying  out  this  inventory,  the  soils  of  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  state  of  Illinois  are 
mapped  and  shown  in  colors  according  to  types. 
An  analysis  of  the  store  of  fertility  in  areas  as 
small  as  10  acres  in  extent  is  made,  and  accom- 
panies the  map  relating  to  the  soils  of  any 
particular  county.  Thousands  of  samples  of 
soil  of  every  type  and  class  in  the  state 
are  carefully  analyzed  by  trained  chemists. 
Specific,  definite  recommendations  for  the 
building  up  and  maintaining  of  the  fertility 
of  all  soils  are  made,  these  being  based  upon 
the  results  of  the  analyses  and  the  results  of 
extensive  and  numerous  field  experiments 
gathered  from  local  experiment  stations  scat- 


THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY      9 

tered  throughout  the  state  upon  every  impor- 
tant soil  type.  In  this  policy  a  decided  stand 
is  taken  against  the  recommendation  of  the 
ordinary  mixed,  complete  fertilizers  as  a  means 
of  soil  improvement,  against  wasteful  soil- 
management  practices,  and  against  useless  ex- 
pensive methods  of  soil  enrichment. 

Definite  machinery  is  set  up  for  carrying 
out  this  policy.  Advisory  committees  of  actual, 
wide-awake  farmers  constitute  the  guiding 
forces  in  directing  the  policy.  A  force  of 
trained  soil  surveyors,  soil  chemists,  and 
experiment-station  men  constitute  a  scientific 
body  for  gathering  and  elaborating  facts. 
Bulletins,  lectures,  colored  county-soil  maps, 
short  courses,  field  demonstrations,  and  per- 
sonal assistance,  all  form  the  means  of  dissemi- 
nating the  information. 

This  soil  policy  is  given  here  at  some  length 
and  detail  in  order  to  illustrate  more  completely 
what  is  meant  by  a  policy,  and  that  some 
hints  might  be  dropped  as  to  the  fitness  of  a 
real  rural  policy  which  seeks  to  correlate  all 
agencies  and  unite  them  in  the  attainment  of 
definite  rural  life-ends. 

President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  of  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  has   out- 


io       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

lined  for  us  the  elements  of  a  true  policy.  He 
groups  his  discussion  under  four  main  heads,  as 
follows : 

i.  A  body  of  principles.  It  is  shown  here 
that  we  must  adopt  certain  principles  as  a 
nation  relative  to  exporting  or  importing  a 
part  or  a  greater  part  of  our  food;  whether  we 
should  work  for  family-sized  farms  or  large 
holdings  with  tenants;  whether  each  section 
of  the  country  should  be  designated  a  zone 
for  the  production  of  certain  fitting  crops  and 
animals;  whether  we  wish  to  encourage  the 
further  extension  of  our  system  of  distribution 
of  food  products  or  supplement  it  with  govern- 
ment regulation  or  management,  or  ownership  of 
the  machinery  of  food  distribution.  We  should 
establish  principles  relative  to  protection  and 
insurance  against  drouth,  hail,  flood,  tornado, 
insect  pests,  and  diseases.  We  should  take 
certain  stands  as  to  whether  our  educational 
system  should  be  broad  enough  to  reach  every 
worker  on  the  land  and  include  economic  and 
social  problems,  or  whether  it  should  be  made 
wholly  technical. 

2.  There  should  be  a  program  based  upon 
adequate  knowledge,  definite  purposes,  and 
effective  methods. 


THE  NEED  OF  A  RURAL  POLICY  n 

3.  There  should  be  machinery  involving 
proper  institutions,  a  proper  division  of  labor, 
and  constructive  co-operation. 

4.  General  needs  such  as  allowing  for  a 
proper  adjustment  between  policies  and  pro- 
grams, the  utilization  of  the  laws  of  progress, 
a  proper  discussion  of  the  issues  involved,  and 
a  discovery  and  training  of  leaders  to  carry  out 
the  policy;  and,  finally,  President  Butterfield 
emphasizes  that  due  recognition  must  be  given 
to  the  nation  as  a  whole  in  any  rural  policy 
because  of  the  fact  that  in  a  country  like  ours 
the  success  of  any  rural  policy  must  depend 
upon  the  support  of  the  whole  people.1 

In  conclusion,  we  may  say  that  no  scheme 
of  rural  organization  can  work  fully  and  com- 
pletely without  its  proper  articulation  with 
each  and  every  other  force  working  in  the  rural 
field  from  the  community  outward  to  state  and 
nation.  The  proper  balancing  and  adjustment 
of  forces  and  agencies  will  come  through  a 
clean-cut,  definite  policy.  This  chapter  aims 
merely  to  point  out  in  a  general  way  the  most 
outstanding  reasons  for  a  rural  policy.  For  a 
proper  treatment  of  the  subject  a  treatise  would 
be  more  appropriate ;  such  a  treatment  awaits  the 
skill  and  training  of  one  very  specially  qualified. 

1  Kenyan  L.  Butterfield,  op.  cit.,  pp.  95-99, 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  A  CHANGING 
RURAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

An  investigation  of  the  sort  attempted  here 
would  not  have  its  proper  setting,  and  could 
not  show  the  relationships  of  one  form  of 
organization  to  another  and  to  the  rural  popula- 
tion as  a  whole,  without  first  making  a  con- 
structive analysis  of  the  farmer's  attitude  of 
mind  toward  the  old  and  the  new  in  country 
life.  That  his  psychology  is  undergoing  a 
change  there  can  be  little  doubt.  That  this 
change  is  reflecting  itself  in  his  mode  of  living, 
in  his  economic  and  social  life,  and  in  his  insti- 
tutions, is  of  much  significance  to  the  student 
of  rural  life. 

The  early  type  of  farmer  in  America  was  an 
extreme  individualist.  This  should  be  stated 
without  reproach.  Under  the  conditions  of  the 
times,  and  by  force  of  circumstances  beyond 
his  control,  he  could  not  very  well  have  been 
otherwise.  It  was  this  mental  characteristic 
which  gave  him  needed  self-reliance,  indomit- 
able perseverance,  and  a  satisfaction  with  his. 


A  CHANGING  RURAL  PSYCHOLOGY  13 

lot,  all  of  which  were  so  necessary  for  the  huge 
task  of  settling  this  country  on  the  plans  laid 
out  by  our  American  forefathers. 

With  farm  homes  located  at  distances 
varying  from  rods  to  miles,  with  poor  roads 
or  none  at  all,  no  telephones,  few  conveniences 
of  life  as  we  know  of  them  today,  the  typical 
American  farmer  soon  learned  to  think  of  and 
interpret  things  in  terms  of  his  own  individu- 
ality. This  sort  of  psychology  developed  a 
resultant  set  of  individualistic  institutions, 
namely,  the  church,  the  district  school,  and 
the  country  store,  all  of  which  have  served 
their  day  and  age  well.  The  farm  home  was 
also  an  expression  of  this  individualism.  Set 
in  the  midst  of  the  toil  and  labors  of  the  farmer, 
it  partook  of  every  activity  of  his  isolated  life. 
The  whole  fabric  of  farm-home  life  was  intensi- 
fied, intimately  woven  into  the  business  of  the 
farmer,  and  highly  individualized. 

Dr.  Warren  H.  Wilson,  in  his  admirable 
book,  The  Evolution  of  the  Country  Community, 
brings  out  the  foregoing  points.     He  says : 

....  The  land  farmer  expected  to  live  in  his  group. 
Secure  in  his  own  acres  and  believing  himself  "as  good  as 
anybody,"  he  relied  for  his  son  and  daughter  not  upon 
trained  skill,  but  upon  native  abilities,  sterling  character, 


14       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

independence  and  industry.     Of  all  these  the  household, 
not  the  school,  is  the  source.1 

Until  recent  years  the  farmer  has  not  been 
brought  into  economic  and  social  contact  with 
the  world  in  matters  of  the  deepest  concern  to 
his  success.  He  did  not  feel  the  need  of 
co-operating  with  outsiders  in  establishing 
business  relationships.  His  market  was  local 
and  required  little  attention  on  his  part;  co- 
operative enterprises  were  of  the  simplest  kind, 
legislation  he  left  to  the  lawyers,  most  of  his  farm 
work  he  performed  by  himself  with  the  aid  of 
his  family,  the  townsman  meant  little  more 
to  him  than  a  necessary  evil  to  be  watched  with 
the  closest  scrutiny.  His  daily  and  seasonal 
round  of  duties,  civic,  social,  economic  and 
religious,  brought  him  very  little  into  relation- 
ships to  others  where  his  conduct,  his  ability 
to  please,  and  his  agreeableness  and  person- 
ality meant  success  or  failure  to  his  enterprise. 
Until  recent  years  the  American  farmer  has 
been  a  free  lance.  Professor  C.  J.  Galpin  says 
of  him: 

....  Organizing  the  duties  of  his  land  management 
without  supervision,  in  general  accordance  with  tradition 
and  custom,  the  farmer,  we  have  observed,  is  his  own  boss. 

1  Warren  H.  Wilson,  The  Evolution  of  the  Country  Community, 
p.  24.     (Boston,  Mass.:  The  Pilgrim  Press,  191 2.) 


A  CHANGING  RURAL  PSYCHOLOGY  15 

Not  only  is  he  in  great  measure  a  craftsman,  but  a  crafts- 
man exempt  from  superior  authority  and  without  the  influ- 
ence of  competitors.  This  constant  dependence  upon  his 
own  judgment  has  wrought  out  the  habit  of  self  reliance. 
Moreover,  his  solitary  mode  of  working  in  the  fields, 
out  in  the  environing  spaces  of  silence,  unbroken  by  the 
click  of  other  human  wills,  where  the  tick,  tick,  tick  of  his 
own  mental  machinery  is  registering  his  own  private  judg- 
ments, has  re-enforced  the  habit  of  self  reliance.  He  works 
upon  the  soil;  he  works  towards  a  product  which  is  shaping 
up  according  to  the  will  of  God;  he  works  under  no  man 
made  specifications  or  man  made  patterns;  he  works  under 
no  pressure  to  please  the  human  whim  of  the  ultimate  user 
of  his  product.1 

This  sketch  of  influences  and  of  their  effect 
upon  the  farmer  will  serve  as  a  basis  upon 
which  to  develop  the  importance  of  the  signifi- 
cant changes  creeping  into  the  rural  life  of 
today,  and  to  show  the  reasons  for  their 
slow  but  steady  advance.  In  considering  rural 
organization  plans  and,  especially,  the  deter- 
mination of  the  unit  of  population  upon  which 
to  build  plans,  a  knowledge  of  the  psychology 
of  farm  folks  is  absolutely  essential.  Changes 
in  attitudes  are  remarkably  different  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country.  Plans,  therefore,  must 
be  made  to  fit  conditions.  Many  of  the  schemes 
of  the  past  have  fallen  to  pieces  because  they 

Charles  J.  Galpin,  Rural  Life,  pp.  43-44.  (New  York: 
The  Century  Company,  1918.) 


1 6       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

were  cut  to  a  pattern  and  not  to  measure. 
Much  ill-adapted  work  of  county  agents,  exten- 
sion bureaus,  state  and  national  agencies  is  due 
to  the  projection  of  plans  upon  a  basis  not  cog- 
nizant of  the  will  of  the  farmer  and  his  local 
group. 

The  increasing  commercialization  of  agri- 
culture, bringing  the  farmer  into  economic  and 
social  relations  with  men  of  various  business 
groups,  has  been  a  dominant  force  in  stimulat- 
ing him  to  a  more  cosmopolitan  attitude  of 
mind.  With  the  concentration  of  industries 
and  the  building  up  of  cities,  agriculture  has 
passed  from  a  self-sufficing  occupation  to  one 
dependent  upon  the  outside  world.  This  has 
brought  about  a  great  development  and  exten- 
sion of  markets  in  food  products  and  has  thereby 
drawn  the  farmer  into  varied  relationships.  He 
finds  it  necessary  now  to  look  beyond  his  farm 
and  neighborhood,  to  study  the  big  question 
of  supply  and  demand,  to  interpret  economic 
changes,  and  to  conduct  his  farming  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  new  demands.  With  the 
increased  specialization  in  agriculture  and  the 
development  of  sale  by  grades,  classes,  and 
standards,  the  farmer  is  being  thrown  more 
and  more  into  contact  with  strong  competitive 


A  CHANGING  RURAL  PSYCHOLOGY  17 

forces.  By  the  operation  of  the  law  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  the  farmer  is  forced 
out  of  his  individualistic  ways  in  such  markets. 
As  one  illustration  taken  from  among  many,  we 
find  live-stock  breeders  nowadays  very  respon- 
sive to  the  increasing  exactions  of  demand. 

The  telephone  and  rural  mail  delivery  have 
done  much  to  break  down  rural  individualism; 
these  are  necessary  adjuncts  to  the  enlarging 
business  relations  of  the  farmer.  The  auto- 
mobile and  good  roads  have  enlarged  his 
neighborhood  and  community,  brought  him 
more  into  town,  and,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
have  taken  him  out  of  his  seclusion.  The 
increasing  use  of  machinery  upon  the  farm 
has  helped  to  free  the  farmer's  mind  for  larger 
and  broader  questions  than  heretofore  occupied 
it  during  his  working  hours.  The  deadening 
drudgery  of  hard  work  is  being  more  and  more 
replaced  by  complicated  machines,  which 
require  greater  skill  and  mental  activity.  The 
reflex  of  all  this  is  more  reserve  power  and 
alertness  for  associative  activities. 

President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield  says: 

All  farmers  may  be  divided  into  three  classes.  There 
is  the  "old"  farmer,  there  is  the  "new"  farmer,  and  there 
is  the  "moss-back."    The  old  farmer  represents  the  ancient 


18        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

regime.  The  new  farmer  is  the  modern  business  agricul- 
turist. The  moss-back  is  a  medieval  survival.  The  old 
farmer  was  in  his  day  a  new  farmer;  he  was  "up  with  the 
times"  as  the  times  then  were.  The  new  farmer  is  merely 
the  worthy  son  of  a  noble  sire;  he  is  the  modern  embodi- 
ment of  the  old  farmer's  progressiveness The  new 

farmer  has  his  largest  conquests  yet  to  make.  But  he  has 
put  his  faith  in  the  strong  arm  of  science ;  he  has  at  his  hand 
the  commercial  mechanism  of  a  world  of  business.  He 
believes  he  will  win  because  he  is  in  league  with  the  ongoing 
forces  of  civilization.1 

Scientific  agriculture  and  its  leaders  of  vision 
have  taught  a  new  concept  of  human  relations 
to  the  farmer.  A  son  or  a  daughter  returning 
from  an  agricultural  college  has  exercised  untold 
influence  in  the  role  of  a  changing  psychology. 
Co-operative  enterprises  in  road-building,  in 
the  ownership  of  expensive  machinery,  in  breed- 
ing associations  have  had  unlimited  value  in 
teaching  the  farmer  how  to  rub  shoulders  and 
get  along  with  the  other  fellow.  Consolida- 
tion of  schools,  federation  of  churches,  build- 
ing and  maintaining  community  centers  have 
cut  wider  and  deeper  into  the  old  individualistic 
state.  The  cultivation  of  the  farmer  by  the 
townsman  through  chambers  of  commerce, 
community   festivals,    fairs,    boys'    and   girls' 

1  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress, 
PP-  53-54-     (Chicago:   The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1907.) 


A  CHANGING  RURAL  PSYCHOLOGY         19 

club  prizes  have  all  tended  to  break  down 
suspicion  and  antagonism  between  townsman 
and  farmer.  At  this  point  Professor  Galpin1 
opens  up  a  fertile  vein  of  thought  in  showing 
that  much  of  the  former  aloofness  between 
townsman  and  countryman  has  been  due  to 
widely  different  standards  of  living.  The 
farmer,  who  has  a  low  standard  of  living 
compared  with  the  city  man,  will  tend  to  look 
with  suspicion  upon  the  latter,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence there  is  no  common  getting  together. 
It  is  only  as  standards  of  living  approach 
equalization  that  we  get  the  co-operation 
between  the  two  that  rings  true.  One  of  the 
solutions,  therefore,  of  this  phase  of  the  rural 
problem  is  a  rising  standard  of  living  for  the 
farmer  where  his  present  standard  is  too  low. 
Dr.  Paul  L.  Vogt  states : 

The  newspaper  and  the  agricultural  journal,  together 
with  the  development  of  free  public  library  systems,  are 
tending  toward  a  unity  in  mental  content  in  the  rural  and 
the  urban  community.  As  rural  reading  matter  becomes 
more  abundant,  the  differences  in  types  of  thought  between 
town  and  country  will  become  less  marked.2 

1  Charles  J.  Galpin,  The  Village  in  Relation  to  the  Surrounding 
Country.  A  paper  read  before  a  conference  on  the  village  and 
the  town  school  of  the  National  Education  Association,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  February  26,  1920. 

2  Paul  L.  Vogt,  Introduction  to  Rural  Sociology,  p.  194.  (New 
York:   D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1917.) 


20       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  well  to  state 
that  the  spread  of  reading-matter  among  the 
farmers  is  of  undoubted  value  and  should 
become  more  universal.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  many  a  city  man  is  densely  ignorant  of 
the  farmer  and  his  true  method  of  life,  and  that 
educative  agencies  are  quite  as  necessary  for 
him  in  order  to  bring  about  a  proper  adjust- 
ment between  the  two,  resting  upon  a  thorough 
understanding  and  appreciation  of  each  for  the 
other's  business  and  mode  of  life. 

The  discussion  of  the  factors  playing  a  part 
in  shaping  a  new  psychology  for  the  farmer  does 
not  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  farmer, 
under  the  full  influence  of  the  new  system,  will 
have  a  city  man's  psychology,  quite  the  con- 
trary. It  simply  means  that  we  are  taking 
cognizance  of  the  changing  psychology  of  the 
farmer  as  a  correct  basis  upon  which  to  con- 
struct organization  plans.  It  shall  be  our 
endeavor  to  show  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of 
different  schemes  of  rural  organization  accord- 
ing to  this  new  order. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  TRADE  AREA 

As  a  unit  of  rural  organization  the  rural 
trade  area  of  villages,  towns,  and  cities  offers  an 
interesting  field  of  investigation.  That  every 
trading-center  has  a  land  basis  has  long  been 
known,  but  the  significance  and  importance  of 
the  relationship  of  this  land  basis  to  the  center 
has  not  until  recent  years  been  made  a  subject 
of  study  and  thoughtful  planning.  This  trade 
area,  together  with  its  center,  has  been  proposed 
by  some  writers  as  an  ideal  unit  for  rural  organi- 
zation. It  is  felt  that  here  we  find  the  most 
complete  life  of  the  farmer  as  well  as  of  the 
townsman;  that  all  the  institutions  of  each  are 
at  hand.  Before  evaluating  this  plan  and  show- 
ing its  limitations,  it  may  be  well  first  to  analyze 
the  structure  of  a  trade  area  and  study  the 
reasons  for  its  existence. 

About  every  village,  town,  or  city  containing 
a  variety  of  institutions,  one  might,  by  careful 
survey,  outline  and  define  areas  of  patronage 
extending  into  the  country  at  varying  distances; 
the  distance  and  direction  depending  upon  the 
proximity  of  other  trading-centers,  conditions 


22        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

of  roads,  presence  or  absence  of  natural  barriers, 
the  push,  business  ingenuity,  and  salesmanship 
of  the  trade  center,  and  other  like  influences. 
One  could  in  this  manner  discover  banking 
zones,  newspaper  zones,  dry-goods  and  grocery 
zones,  high-school  zones,  library  zones.  One 
would  find,  in  the  main,  the  inner  areas  of  these 
zones  remaining  quite  stable  and  the  outer 
areas  fluctuating  more  or  less.  Along  the  outer 
areas  there  may  also  be  found  neutral  areas 
where  the  farmers  may  go  to  one  trade  center 
for  one  line  of  goods  and  to  another  trade  center 
for  a  different  line.  Such  areas  as  these  may 
be  of  considerable  dimensions,  depending  upon 
the  strategic  location  of  the  farmers  as  to 
trading-centers  almost  equally  available.  One 
can  say  that  as  a  rule,  however,  around  every 
trading-center  of  appreciable  size  can  be  found 
a  compact  definite  group  of  farmers  who  do 
the  great  bulk  of  their  trading  at  the  center; 
who,  because  of  these  relations,  feel  toward 
that  center  a  more  or  less  common  allegiance. 
The  merchants  and  tradesmen  of  the  center 
also  recognize  this  land  basis,  court  this  trade 
(even  though  in  all  too  many  cases  with  an 
idea  of  exploitation),  depend  upon  it,  and  seek 
to  keep  it  satisfied. 


THE  TRADE  AREA  23 

In  theory,  this  population,  bound  together 
in  the  first  instance  by  ties  and  obligations  of 
business  relations,  constitutes  an  ideal  area  as 
to  population,  cohesion,  variety  of  interest, 
variety  of  institutions,  and  business  contacts 
upon  which  to  build  the  superstructure  of  rural 
organization.  In  theory,  the  mingling  of 
townsman  and  farmer  in  trade  relations  fur- 
nishes the  avenue  for  the  opening  up  of  more 
definite  economic  and  social  relations,  for  the 
development  of  a  concrete  community  con- 
sciousness. In  theory,  the  farmer  will  recognize 
his  obligations  to  the  center  and  seek  to  fulfil 
them  by  co-operative  effort,  good  will,  and 
loyalty,  and  the  townsman  will  recognize  his 
dependence  upon  the  farmer,  wipe  out  in  his 
own  mind  the  idea  of  town  or  city  limits,  and 
add  in  its  place  a  conception  of  the  community, 
of  the  oneness  of  aims  of  farmer  and  townsman. 
He  will  include  the  farmer  in  public  undertakings 
and  institutions  as  an  equal  partner  with  himself. 

Now  there  is  no  question  but  that  such  a 
program  as  the  foregoing  will  redound  in  much 
good  to  all.  That  it  is  an  ideal  toward  which 
town  and  country  should  work  should  be  taken 
for  granted  without  argument.  No  good  can 
come  out  of  warfare  between  town  and  country, 


24       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

the  one  needs  the  other,  the  one  helps  to  build 
the  other,  and  they  should  work  together  in 
harmony  and  co-operation.  But  that  the  trade 
area  is  not  a  unit  of  general  and  inclusive  or- 
ganization covering  every  square  mile  of  terri- 
tory in  an  effective  way  becomes  evident  upon 
closer  study  and  analysis.  There  are  localities 
so  far  removed  from  a  trade  center  that  trading 
alone  is  the  only  function  that  can  reasonably 
be  performed  at  the  center.  Trading  relations 
will  draw  the  farmers  at  stated  periods  to  the 
center,  but  their  social  and  religious  and  educa- 
tional attachments  will  not  undergo  such  a 
strain  from  distance.  Also,  the  trade  area  in 
many  cases  will  be  found  to  include  too  many 
of  too  diverse  interests  for  them  to  become 
interested  in  one  another;  a  certain  diversity 
there  should  be.  A  group  drawn  together  in  the 
main  because  of  trading  at  a  center  often  does 
not  hold  in  common  enough  vital  interests 
touching  deeply  the  lives  of  all  alike  to  feel 
and  act  concertedly.  The  family  to  the  north 
of  town  will  only  in  rare  cases  come  intimately 
to  know  the  family  to  the  south  of  town.  The 
purely  informal  and  casual  meetings  at  the 
center  are  not  enough  to  draw  people  together 
in  the  conduct  of  serious  business. 


THE  TRADE  AREA  25 

A  study  of  a  rather  comprehensive  trade 
area  has  been  made  in  the  hope  of  throwing 
light  upon  this  problem  by  means  of  con- 
crete illustration.1  Sullivan,  Sullivan  County, 
Indiana,  has  been  taken  as  a  typical  rural 
county-seat  town.  It  lies  in  the  geographical 
center  of  a  good  agricultural  county  in  west- 
central  southern  Indiana.  Sullivan  County 
stands  high  among  the  counties  of  southern 
Indiana  in  the  production  of  corn,  hogs,  poultry, 
cattle,  wheat,  hay,  and  oats.  The  trade  area 
of  Sullivan  represents  the  county  well  in  all 
these  products. 

Sullivan,  according  to  the  19 10  census,  had 
a  population  of  4,115;  it  stands  very  near  the 
5,000  mark  now.  There  are  very  few  foreign- 
born  persons  in  the  city  or  in  the  trade  area; 
racial  differences  and  class  differences  are  of  the 
smallest  significance  here.  In  the  main,  Sulli- 
van is  a  good  county  seat,  farmers'  town,  and 
is  dependent  essentially  upon  the  land  basis 
round  about  it.  There  is  one  small  automobile 
factory  recently  established,  which,  at  present, 
employs  only  a  few  workmen.  There  is  a  small 
canning  factory,  which  finds  its  supplies  within 

1  This  study  is  based  upon  the  author's  three  years'  service 
as  county  agricultural  agent  in  Sullivan  County. 


26       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

the  trade  area;  it  cans  tomatoes  chiefly,  one  of 
the  minor  crops  of  the  area.  There  are  two 
farmers'  coal  mines  within  the  trade  area,  but 
the  city  handles  considerable  business  of  the 
Consolidated  Coal  Company  which  operates  in 
the  eastern  half  of  the  county.  The  electric 
current  for  the  city  and  a  few  country  homes  is 
furnished  by  the  interurban  company  with 
headquarters  at  Terre  Haute,  26  miles  north. 
Sullivan  has  its  regular  quota  of  professional 
men  and  merchants.  It  is  not  burdened  with 
retired  farmers,  having  only  a  fair  scattering, 
many  of  whom  are  in  small  business  concerns 
or  still  looking  after  their  farms.  There  are 
six  churches,  three  graded  schools,  and  one  high 
school  in  the  city.  There  is  also  an  excellent 
new  county  hospital  of  fifty  beds.  This  is  the 
only  hospital  in  the  county  and  is  well  patron- 
ized by  town  and  country  people.  The  high 
school  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  state,  enrolling 
about  190  pupils;  it  is  fairly  well  used  by  the 
farmer  boys  and  girls.  All  the  main  streets  of 
Sullivan  are  well  paved,  and  the  main  roads 
leading  out  into  the  country  and  throughout 
the  trade  area  are  well  graveled  and  improved. 
The  business  men  of  Sullivan  are  a  good, 
hustling  group  and  take  the  lead  in  public 


THE  TRADE  AREA  27 

matters.  They  have  in  the  past,  through  their 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  aided,  financially  and 
morally,  corn  shows,  poultry  shows,  live-stock 
exhibitions,  and  boys'  and  girls'  club  work. 
At  the  present  time  they  have  formed  a  commu- 
nity club,  composed  of  town  and  farmer  mem- 
bers, which  has  supplanted  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  This  club  has  just  completed 
arrangements  for  building  a  live-stock  pavilion 
in  Sullivan;  this  has  been  financed  by  selling 
shares  to  town  and  country  people.  It  is  to  be 
used  for  agricultural  meetings  and  for  agricul- 
tural shows  and  exhibitions.  The  bankers 
quite  generally  encourage  the  farmers'  co- 
operation. At  present,  the  National  Bank  is 
encouraging  a  pure-bred-calf  club  among  the 
boys'  and  girls'  clubs  by  giving  to  certain  mem- 
bers who  fulfil  certain  requirements  pure-bred 
Hereford  calves;  nine  calves  were  placed  in  the 
spring  of  1920.  The  Peoples'  State  Bank  has 
been  following  a  similar  plan  with  pig-club 
work  during  the  past  three  years. 

The  farming  land  of  the  trade  area  is  of  good 
quality,  although  not  the  best  in  the  county. 
The  soil  is  a  light  gray,  running  into  a  dark  gray 
silt  loam  of  the  lower  Illinoisan  Glaciation;  it 
has   all   been   rather   heavily   timbered.     The 


28       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

farms  average  about  140  acres  in  size,  are,  on 
the  whole,  well  cultivated,  but  lacking  in  proper 
drainage  in  some  areas.  The  farm  homes  are 
of  a  good,  substantial  type  and  usually  conven- 
ient, but  generally  not  modern.  Tenancy  is 
not  a  problem,  ranging  not  more  than  from  28 
to  30  per  cent.  The  farmers  are  good,  depend- 
able folk,  almost  entirely  of  American  stock. 
The  farm  family  averages  about  rive  members. 
The  density  of  population  is  somewhat  greater 
in  a  section  of  the  area  to  the  east  of  Sullivan 
than  it  is  in  the  remainder  of  the  area.  This 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  farms  here  are 
smaller,  although  on  the  whole  less  productive. 
The  rural  population  of  the  trade  area  is 
slightly  under,  in  number,  the  population  of  the 
center.  In  a  general  way,  the  trade  area 
extends  outward  from  the  center  in  the  following 
distances:  north,  3!  miles;  northeast,  8  miles; 
east,  5  miles;  southeast,  7  miles;  south,  5  miles; 
southwest,  8  miles;  west,  5  miles;  northwest, 
8  miles. 

With  this  setting  and  knowledge  of  the 
people  before  us,  we  may  now  go  more  definitely 
into  their  social  and  economic  life.  The 
farmers  are  fair  traders  in  town;  they  buy  as 
economically  as  possible,  but  too  frequently  they 


THE  TRADE  AREA  29 

are  swayed  or  inclined  to  take  an  article  because 
it  is  marked  cheap,  quite  regardless  of  its 
quality.  The  farmer  all  too  often  feels  he  is  in 
town  to  get  all  he  can  out  of  the  town  and  to 
give  as  little  as  he  can  in  return.  He  comes  to 
town  in  great  numbers  on  Saturdays,  using  a 
surprising  array  of  automobiles  nowadays,  and 
buys  his  principal  supplies  of  groceries  and 
dry  goods.  During  the  remainder  of  the  week 
he  is  seldom  seen  in  the  city;  the  ordinary 
course  of  events  brings  him  to  town  primarily 
and  principally  for  trade.  On  Saturdays,  after 
trading  is  done,  time  is  "killed"  by  loafing 
around  the  streets  and  the  courthouse  square. 
On  Sundays,  the  six  churches  are  found  strik- 
ingly deficient  in  farm-family  attendance.  The 
farmer  feels  little  affiliation  with  the  town 
church;  he  has  his  own  at  the  cross-roads  a  few 
miles  out.  The  one  theater  of  Sullivan  seldom 
registers  more  than  two  dozen  country  folks  in 
attendance  at  one  time.  The  lodges,  of  which 
the  Masonic,  Woodmen,  and  Elks  are  the 
leaders,  have  done  well  in  farmer  membership, 
but  in  farmer  attendance  they  are  about  on  a 
par  with  the  other  institutions.  There  have 
been  weak  and  spasmodic  efforts  at  times  for 
the  ladies  of  town  and  country  to  get  together 


30       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

in  home-economics  clubs,  but  with  no  perma- 
nent success.  The  farmers'  institutes  held 
annually  in  Sullivan  are  the  poorest  in  attend- 
ance of  any  in  the  county;  an  attendance  of 
from  thirty  to  fifty  farmers  is  the  rule  for  them. 
A  business  man  seldom  thinks  it  is  his  duty  to 
attend  any  of  the  sessions.  The  corn,  poultry, 
and  live-stock  shows  are  better  patronized  by 
the  farmers,  quite  largely  because  of  their 
county-wide  nature  and  competitive  character. 

The  farmers  in  the  north  part  of  the  trade 
area  do  not  know  the  farmers  to  the  south  of 
the  center,  nor  do  those  to  the  east  know  those 
to  the  west.  The  wholly  informal,  irresponsible 
method  of  relationships  at  this  trade  center  are 
not  a  sufficient  basis  to  draw  the  people  together 
into  a  unified  group. 

Thus  it  develops  from  this  study  that,  under 
certain  conditions,  with  a  certain  happy  mixture 
of  population  relations,  and  a  proper  attitude 
of  townsmen  and  farmers  developed  and 
maintained,  the  trade-area  unit  may,  in  pecu- 
liarly favored  cases,  be  a  good  rural  organiza- 
tion unit.  But  as  a  repeating  socio-economic 
unit  to  be  used  to  cover  all  the  farm  population 
it  is  not  of  sufficient  universality. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 

The  prominence  held  by  the  small  rural 
school  in  the  affairs  of  American  farm  life 
bids  us  look  well  into  its  structure  for  some 
clue  to  a  fitting  scheme  for  rural  organization. 
Dr.  Warren  H.  Wilson  says: 

The  farmers  who  out  of  a  splendid  idealism  placed  a 
schoolhouse  at  every  cross-roads,  on  every  hill-top  and  in 
every  mountain  valley,  exact  a  tribute  of  praise  from  their 
successors.  The  unit  of  measurement  of  the  school  district, 
on  which  this  system  was  based,  was  the  day's  journey  of  a 
child  six  years  of  age.  Two  miles  must  be  its  longest 
radius.  The  generation  who  spanned  this  continent  with 
the  measure  of  an  infant's  pace,  mapped  the  land  into 
districts,  erected  houses  at  the  centers,  and  employed 
teachers  as  masters  of  learning  for  these  little  states,  were 
men  of  statesman-like  power.  The  country  school  is  a  nobler 
monument  of  the  land  farmer  than  anything  else.1  .... 

The  rural-school  district  was  first  organized 
in  colonial  New  England  out  of  the  needs  of 
the  time.  It  served  as  a  link  connecting  the 
isolated  home  with  the  outside  world  through 
educational,    social,    and   oftentimes    religious 

1  Warren  H.  Wilson,  op.  tit.,  p.  24. 
31 


32       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

channels.  The  pioneers  of  the  West  planted 
it  everywhere  they  went,  until  it  has  become 
one  of  the  most  widely  disseminated  of  rural 
institutions. 

The  common  size  of  the  rural-school  district 
is  4  square  miles,  the  area  varying  according 
to  topographical  and  local  conditions.  Impas- 
sable streams,  hills,  lakes,  and  the  like,  cause 
irregularity  in  size  and  shape.  In  a  prairie 
country  where  there  are  no  natural  obstacles 
one  finds  them  laid  out  with  the  regularity  of 
spots  on  a  checker  board.  The  point  to  be 
brought  out  here  is  that  the  later  development 
of  the  district  seems  to  favor  regularity  and 
uniformity  which  militates  against  natural,  vol- 
untary community  life. 

The  number  of  families  within  small  rural 
districts  will  vary  more  than  will  the  size  of  the 
district.  The  type  of  farming,  determining  the 
size  of  the  farms,  the  character  of  the  country, 
the  degree  of  settlement,  are  all  factors  having 
an  influence.  One  usually  finds  from  a  dozen 
or  fifteen  to  thirty  or  forty  families. 

This  little  district  with  its  population  drawn 
together  in  the  formal  support  of  their  one 
common  institution  constitutes  America's 
smallest  democracy.     In  this  rural  state,  some- 


THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT      33 

times  called  a  neighborhood,  sometimes  a  com- 
munity, we  may  find  potent  forces  making  for 
great  strength  and  character.  The  intimacy 
with  which  the  children  of  the  various  families 
come  into  contact  and  thereby  draw  the  elders 
into  closer  relationships  makes  for  under- 
standing and  co-operation.  The  closeness  of 
the  school  to  the  lives  of  the  people  has  a  tend- 
ency to  lift  them  along  and  to  cement  their 
interests.  This  has  been  proved  time  and 
again  in  a  live,  progressive  district  school. 
The  close,  personal  supervision  and  instruction 
given  the  pupil  throughout  his  attendance 
allows  for  most  rapid  progress  and  advance- 
ment. Thus  we  find  that  this,  the  smallest 
common  unit  of  rural  organization,  has  been 
a  great  force  for  good  in  its  time  and  place. 
That  it  still  has  an  influence  in  many  sections 
of  the  country  cannot  be  doubted.  The  writer 
in  four  years'  work  in  extension  activities  has 
come  into  close  relationship  with  many  school 
districts  in  our  central  states  which  are  real, 
effective  socio-economic  units.  Boys'  and  girls' 
clubs,  silo  meetings,  home-economics  demon- 
strations, and  better-farming  meetings  have 
all  been  staged  successfully  upon  this  basis. 
Some  of  the  most  effective  work  among  farmers 


34       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

in  getting  instruction  to  them  and  results  out 
of  it  is  done  through  such  a  homogeneous  group. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  small  school 
district  unit  of  country  life  will  continue  in  some 
areas,  especially  of  an  isolated,  thinly  settled 
type,  to  be  a  real  force  and  as  effective  a  unit 
for  such  areas  as  can  be  found.  A  closer 
analysis  of  the  common  type  of  district  made 
in  the  light  of  the  needs  of  the  present  and  in 
view  of  the  more  cosmopolitan  character  of  the 
farmers'  life  will  show  glaring  deficiencies. 

A  careful  study  of  the  socio-economic 
features  has  been  made  of  two  rather  typical 
small  rural-school  districts.  One,  the  Fairview 
school  district,  of  Sangamon  County,  Illinois, 
is  representative  of  large  areas  of  that  section 
of  the  state.  The  other,  the  Big  Springs  dis- 
trict, of  Sullivan  County,  Indiana,  well  repre- 
sents most  of  the  conditions  of  a  more  thickly 
settled  section  in  central  and  southern  Indiana. 

I.      FAIRVIEW  DISTRICT1 

Reference  to  the  accompanying  map  shows 
this  district  to  be  2  miles  long  and  \\  miles 
wide,  thus  containing  3  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory.    This  district  lies  in  the   northwestern 

1  This  district  has  long  been  the  author's  family  residence. 


THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT      35 


part  of  Sangamon  County  in  central  Illinois. 
It  is  in  a  prairie  country  of  rich  black  to  brown 
silt-loam  soil.  There  are  no  natural  barriers  in 
the  area;  only  two  small  creeks  pass  through  it. 
All  of  the  land  is  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 

If 


Scale  I  Inch  I  Mile 

Map  1. — Fairview  School  District,  Sangamon  County,  Illinois 


being  devoted  to  general  grain  and  live- 
stock raising.  The  farmers  are  prosperous 
and  have  their  farms  highly  improved.  The 
value  of  the  land  here  in  this  area  has  been 
between  $200  and  $300  per  acre  for  the  past 
eight  or  ten  years.  The  roads  in  the  area  are 
well-graded   and   -dragged   dirt   roads   which, 


36       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

nevertheless,  become  very  bad  at  times  during 
the  winter  and  spring.  The  farms  average 
1 80  acres  in  size.  There  are  eleven  families 
within  the  district;  the  majority  are  Ameri- 
cans; two  are  tenants  and  two  hired  laborers. 
In  1900,  when  the  school  stood  about  its  best, 
the  population  of  the  district  was  fifty-six 
persons;  it  has  dwindled  to  thirty-five  at 
present.  This  decrease  is  not  due  to  enlarge- 
ment or  abandonment  of  farms,  but  to  the  fact 
that  several  large  families  have  grown  up  and 
scattered,  and  to  a  change  from  large  to  small 
families  in  the  tenant  and  hired  group. 

The  Fairview  school  has  always  been  one  of 
smaller  good  schools  of  the  county.  While  its 
attendance  has  fluctuated  from  about  seven  to 
thirty  or  more,  it  has  always  ranked  high  in 
educational  and  moral  standards. 

Now,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  district 
as  an  organized  rural  unit  sufficient  for  the  needs 
of  the  farmers  from  a  socio-economic  standpoint, 
we  find  serious  deficiencies.  The  people  here 
feel  themselves  one  in  the  support  of  the  school, 
but,  aside  from  that,  there  is  no  bond  that 
holds  them;  a  general  community  spirit  does 
not  exist.  The  school  brings  the  young  folks 
together  and  fosters  a  local  interest  in  them 


THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT      37 

which  extends  to  a  slight  degree  to  the  parents, 
but  which,  on  the  whole,  is  so  weak  as  to  be 
of  little  value  in  rural  organization.  No 
adult  gatherings  of  any  sort  take  place  at  the 
school;  no  public  lectures,  farmers'  meetings, 
and  the  like.  In  fact,  very  little  neighborhood 
or  community  life  of  any  sort  is  exhibited 
within  the  district.  These  things  may  be  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  trade  village  is  ij 
miles  distant  from  the  school,  and  that  the 
farmers  prefer  to  find  their  community  life 
within  the  larger  circle. 

It  becomes  plainly  evident  in  this  study 
that  there  is  something  lacking  to  make  the 
school  district  an  effective  unit.  The  most 
serious  deficiency  in  this  case  is  a  lack  of 
sufficient  area  and  population  to  give  variety 
of  interests  and  of  social  contacts;  a  lack  of 
institutions  numerous  enough  to  satisfy  all  the 
needs  of  the  people;  such  as  these  can  seldom 
be  found  in  the  ordinary  rural-school  district. 

2.      BIG   SPRINGS    SCHOOL  DISTRICT1 

The  map  on  page  38  shows  this  district 
to   be   larger    and    more   populous   than    the 

1  The  facts  were  gathered  from  first-hand  information  and 
careful  survey. 

47T 


38       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Fairview  district.  It  embraces  about  5  square 
miles  of  territory  and  has  a  present  population 
of  about  no  persons.  Nearly  2  square  miles 
of  this  district  lie  in  the  Wabash  River  bottoms, 


Le  s  e  n  d : 

•  Hones 

/?«•  C  veek 
"~~-  Stfeap 

bcaie  h  Inch  1  Mile 


Map  2. — Big  Springs  School  District,  Sullivan  County,  Indiana 


which  are  farmed  from  homes  situated  along 
the  higher  land  just  out  of  the  bottom.  This 
condition  gives  a  somewhat  closer  settlement 
around  and  near  a  center  than  is  often  found  in 
the  country.  Big  Springs  district  is  in  the 
western  part  of  Sullivan  County,  Indiana,  a 


THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT      39 

south-central  Indiana  county,  bordering  on 
the  Wabash  River  on  the  west.  This  is  a 
good  agricultural  section,  the  soil  varying  from 
a  deep,  rich,  black  silt  and  clay  loam  in  the 
bottoms  to  a  sandy  and  yellow  clayey  upland 
in  the  rolling  areas.  The  upland  is  not  rugged 
in  nature,  but  varies  from  gently  undulating 
to  small  broken  areas  along  streams.  Com- 
munication facilities  are  excellent  throughout 
the  area,  as  good  gravel  roads  are  found  and  the 
telephone  is  in  general  use.  The  common- 
sized  farm  is  about  140  acres.  There  are  two 
large  landholders  in  the  district  who  each  have 
over  1,000  acres;  this  gives  a  somewhat  greater 
number  of  tenants  than  is  common.  The  chief 
agricultural  productions  are  corn,  wheat,  oats, 
hay,  pure-bred  cattle,  and  hogs.  This  is  one 
of  the  best  farming  sections  of  the  county,  and 
the  landowners,  as  well  as  the  tenants,  show 
their  success.  Their  homes  are  well  improved, 
the  farms  well  kept,  and  their  families  are 
being  well  educated.  Some  of  the  hired 
laborers  and  a  few  tenants,  however,  are 
being  poorly  provided  for,  a  condition  some- 
times hard  to  explain. 

The  school  and  the  district  have  always 
been  considered  one  of  the  best  in  the  county. 


40       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

The  people  here  have  always  leagued  together 
upon  a  district  basis  better  than  have  those 
in  the  Fairview  district.  There  are  now  forty- 
three  families  living  within  the  district,  fourteen 
of  whom  are  families  of  hired  laborers,  five 
tenant  families,  and  twenty-four  are  families  of 
owners.  In  1900,  when  the  school  was  flourish- 
ing, there  was  a  population  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  persons  in  the  area.  The  diminu- 
tion from  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  in  1900 
to  about  one  hundred  and  ten  at  the  present 
time  is  due  to  the  phenomenon  seen  in  the  case 
of  the  Fairview  district,  namely,  smaller  fami- 
lies and  not  larger  farms  or  farm  abandon- 
ment. 

Naturally  we  may  be  led  to  conclude  that 
in  this  district  we  have  a  better  rural  organiza- 
tion unit  than  in  the  case  of  the  one  first 
discussed,  and  so  we  have,  on  the  whole. 
There  has  been  more  neighborhood  and  com- 
munity life  and  more  co-operation.  The  school, 
however,  has  been  used  very  little  more  as  a 
focus  for  the  socio-economic  relations  of  the 
adults;  no  farmers'  meetings  have  been  held  in 
it.  The  people  themselves  within  the  district 
have  not  felt  the  incentive  of  organized  life, 
and  it  was  not  until  1907,  when  this  district 
consolidated  with  several  others,   at  a  small 


THE  SMALL  RURAL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT      41 

hamlet  one  mile  away,  that  the  people  developed 
a  real  community  spirit,  based  upon  the 
enlarged  community.  In  the  former  case  we 
had  more  of  the  neighborhood  group,  not  feeling 
in  any  way  the  formality  of  a  concrete  and 
organized  life. 

In  these  two  studies  we  have  covered  two 
representative  examples  of  small,  rural  school 
district  units.  Each  represents  its  particular 
section  of  the  country  very  well.  In  neither 
case  have  we  found  the  proper  combination 
of  factors  to  give  success  in  rural  organization 
plans.  The  small  school  unit  is  too  small. 
It  does  not  embrace  a  sufficient  land  area  to 
give  us  the  size  of  population,  together  with 
proper  cohesion  and  density,  to  allow  for 
sufficient  variety  in  human  interests  and  con- 
tacts. The  chances  for  obtaining  real  leaders 
in  such  a  small  area  are  much  reduced.  The 
social  contacts  are  too  limited  in  number  and 
too  much  of  the  same  sort  to  arouse  much  indi- 
vidual initiative. 

The  farmer  of  today,  with  his  good  roads, 
automobile,  and  telephone,  demands  a  variety 
of  interests  and  contacts;  his  organized  life 
must  be  constructed  upon  a  broader  basis  than 
the  district-school  neighborhood. 


42        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Professor  Galpin  says:  ".  .  .  .  All  the 
farmers'  psychologic  handicaps,  concentrated 
and  symbolized  in  the  little  school  itself,  are 
perpetuated  apparently  by  the  smallness  of 
the  school."1 

1  Charles  J.  Galpin,  Rural  Life,  p.  125. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  VARIOUSLY 
CONSIDERED 

I.      THE  RURAL  PARISH 

Recognizing  the  undoubted  relation  of  the 
rural  church  to  the  life  and  welfare  of  a  country 
community,  the  rural  parish  will  here  be  con- 
sidered as  a  possible  unit  of  rural  organization. 

The  parish  is  found  to  vary  greatly  in  size, 
shape,  and  compactness,  depending  upon  the 
number  of  the  prevailing  denominations  and 
the  strength  of  each.  Parishes  may  be  found 
overlapping  one  another  for  considerable  dis- 
tances, and,  again,  some  rural  districts  may  be 
found  outside  the  realm  of  any  parish. 

A  personal  study  has  been  made  of  the  Big 
Springs  parish,  Sullivan  County,  Indiana.  For 
a  description  of  the  character  of  the  country, 
type  of  farming,  character  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  like  factors,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
discussion  of  the  same  in  chapter  iv,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Big  Springs  school  district.  The 
parish  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  district, 

43 


44       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

but  the  general  physical  and  human  factors 
are  practically  the  same. 

The  denomination  of  the  Big  Springs  church 
is  called  "The  New  Light  Christian."  The 
church  house  is  a  modest,  but  convenient, 
frame  structure  capable  of  seating  two  hundred 
and  fifty  persons.  It  is  centrally  located  rela- 
tive to  the  area  served  and  is  easily  accessible 
over  well-improved  roads.  The  parish  can  be 
rated  as  high  as  any  in  the  county.  The  parish- 
ioners are  loyal  supporters  of  their  church  and 
hold  it  high  in  their  thoughts  and  lives.  The 
church  membership  is  fifty  persons,  all  of  whom 
are  quite  faithful  in  service  attendance  and 
church  support.  Sunday  school  is  very  regu- 
larly attended ;  it  has  a  membership  of  fifty-five 
and  meets  every  Sunday.  Preaching  services 
are  held  once  a  month  by  a  non-resident  pastor. 
There  is  a  ladies'  aid  society  of  twenty  members, 
which  meets  regularly  every  week  at  one  of 
the  homes  in  the  parish.  This  society  is  a 
live  organization  and  functions  continuously. 
The  social  activities  of  the  parish  are  regular 
and  rather  varied.  On  a  certain  day  each 
October,  an  annual  home-coming  is  staged 
at  the  church.  This  is  the  biggest  event  of 
the  year,  and  the  average  attendance  for  the 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY 


45 


past  four  years  has  been  about  two  hundred 
persons.  All  persons  who  have  ever  been 
Big  Springs  people  are  welcome  guests  at  this 


Legend 

X  Homes  Of  /V\E!A6£r.s  O/The  Chutch 
•  Homes  Of  Non-Membecs 

•^IfWProveo  RoADs(GrAVEL) 

=  Dirt  Roads 

Scale  \  Inch  1  Mile 

Map  3. — Big  Springs  Parish,  Sullivan  County,  Indiana 

home-coming.  Services  are  held  and  the  audi- 
ence is  addressed  by  some  speaker  of  note. 
A  big  picnic  dinner  also  features  the  day.     The 


46       RURAL     COMMUNITY    ORGANIZATION 

Sunday  school  holds  two  picnics  a  year:  one 
in  the  spring  and  the  other  in  the  fall  of  the 
year.  These  picnics  usually  occur  at  some 
interesting  point  outside  the  area.  Rather 
elaborate  children's  exercises  are  held  every 
June.  Every  Easter  the  Sunday  school  holds 
an  egg  roast. 

On  the  whole,  this  parish  is  above  the 
average  in  community  spirit  and  progressive- 
ness.  It  will  be  observed,  however,  by  studying 
the  map  on  page  45  that  there  are  em- 
braced within  the  limits  of  the  parish  many 
homes  which  are  not  functioning,  which  are 
not  receiving  the  benefits  of  this  co-operation. 
For  one  reason  or  another,  they  are  not  drawn 
into  the  organization.  Some  owe  allegiance  to 
other  parishes,  which  cross  lines  with  the  Big 
Springs  parish.  Many  of  these  homes,  however, 
do  not  feel  the  necessary  spur  to  align  them- 
selves with  an  informal  church  organization,  but 
a  more  universal  organization,  including  a  varied 
group  of  activities,  economic  as  well  as  social  in 
character,  would  catch  them.  At  this  point 
a  school  district  is  a  more  effective  unit  than  a 
parish,  because  all  residents  of  a  school  dis- 
trict, by  virtue  of  their  residence,  are  a  part  of 
the    district   and    contribute    to    its    support. 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  47 

As  valuable  as  may  be  a  parish  unit,  its 
structure  may  possess  inherent  weaknesses 
which  render  it  unsatisfactory  as  a  unit  of 
general  application.  One  of  these  is  the  same 
as  that  charged  against  the  small  rural  school 
district,  namely,  it  is  not  sufficiently  compre- 
hensive in  size  of  actual  membership.  It 
oftentimes  embraces  considerable  territory,  in 
which  case  the  membership  will  lack  compact- 
ness and  cohesion.  The  crossing  and  recross- 
ing  of  parish  lines  gives  a  disgression  of  aims 
and  interests  which  does  not  lend  itself  well 
to  solidarity  of  community  plans.  The  parish 
does  not  cover  every  square  mile  of  rural  terri- 
tory and  is,  therefore,  not  of  universal  appli- 
cation. 

2.      THE   TOWNSHIP   UNIT 

In  the  west-central  states  the  geographical 
or  congressional  township,  which  is  generally 
6  miles  square,  is  usually  taken  as  the  civil 
township.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  latter 
may  include  one  and  parts  of  several  geographi- 
cal or  congressional  townships.  In  this  dis- 
cussion, we  shall  refer  entirely  to  the  civil 
township.  On  the  whole,  the  boundaries  of 
this  area  are  straight  lines  and  have  no  refer- 
ence whatever  to  social  features. 


48        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

It  has  been  proposed  by  some  students  of 
rural  life  to  use  the  civil  township  as  a  basis 
for  rural-organization  plans.  The  National 
Grange  has  copied  this  plan  as  have  also  the 
Farm  Bureau  associations.  In  both  of  these 
organizations  evidences  are  apparent  that  this 
base  is  artificially  created;  such  a  community 
does  not  always  show  effective  co-operation. 
One  side  of  a  township  often  will  pull  in  one 
way  while  another  part  is  pulling  in  an  oppo- 
site direction.  Sometimes  a  natural  barrier, 
like  a  large  river  or  lake,  separates  the  town- 
ship into  two  or  more  distinct   communities. 

A  careful  social  survey  of  a  rural  township 
in  Indiana,  made  by  the  author  and  submitted 
as  a  Master's  thesis  in  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  revealed  the  fact  that  portions  of 
that  township  along  the  northern,  eastern,  and 
southern  boundaries  did  not  maintain  any 
social  and  but  little  economic  relations  with 
the  main  portion  of  the  township.  It  also  was 
found  that  an  adjacent,  irregular  area  out  of 
another  township  had  both  social  and  economic 
relations  with  the  main  group  of  the  first 
township. 

Professor  Fairlie,  in  Local  Government  in 
Counties,  Towns  and  Villages,  shows  that  the 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  49 

"  artificial  form  of  the  township  in  the  Middle 
West  has  been  of  no  little  influence."1  He 
further  states  concerning  this  matter: 

....  Certainly  in  these  states  the  township  often 
lacks  the  social  unity  of  the  New  England  town.  A  village 
may  develop  in  one  corner  of  a  township,  and  become  the 
local  market  for  two  or  three  adjacent  townships,  while  the 
distant  farmers  of  its  own  township  trade  in  the  village 
of  another.  In  other  cases,  a  village  may  grow  up  across 
a  township  line,  and  the  political  line  of  demarcation  must 
be  followed,  although  there  is  no  separation  of  real  interests 
between  those  who  live  on  either  side.2 

Only  in  rare  cases,  where  community 
boundary  lines  happen  to  coincide  with  civil 
township  lines,  will  there  be  a  truly  effective 
socio-economic  unit  of  farm  population  within 
the  civil  township.  The  boundaries  of  this 
legal  unit,  therefore,  are  of  too  great  an  arti- 
ficiality, from  the  standpoint  of  social  rela- 
tions, to  be  of  the  most  effective  service  in 
defining  a  proper  rural  unit. 

3.      NEW  ENGLAND   TOWNS 

Professor  Fairlie  says: 

New  England  towns,  for  the  most  part,  are  irregular  in 
form  and  usually  contain  from  twenty  to  forty  square 
miles.     In  the    northern  part    of  Maine   the    rectangular 

1  John  A.  Fairlie,  Local  Government  in  Counties,  Towns  and 
Villages,  p.  173.     (New  York:  The  Century  Company,  1914.) 
3  Ibid.,  pp.  173-74- 


50       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

survey  into  townships  six  miles  square  has  been  followed, 
but  this  is  distinctly  different  from  other  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land. Most  of  the  towns  are  predominantly  rural  in  char- 
acter, but  all  have  one  or  more  "villages"  where  houses  are 
more  compactly  built,  and  in  many  cases  towns  are  at 
least  semi-urban  and  some  can  be  classed  as  small  urban 
communities.1 

Probably  no  unit  of  rural  life  has  been  of 
greater  prominence  in  the  life  of  the  nation 
than  the  rural  New  England  town  with  its 
open  forum  and  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment. Here  is  where  the  principles  of  liberty 
and  free  speech  have  held  forth  in  all  their 
power  and  influence. 

For  New  England  conditions,  the  town 
seems  to  furnish  the  proper  clue  to  rural- 
organization  plans.  President  Butterneld,  of 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  says: 

In  this  work  of  community  mobilization,  Massachusetts, 
in  common  with  the  other  New  England  states,  has  a  distinct 
advantage  in  possessing  the  town  system  of  government. 
The  town  as  a  rule  is  a  natural  community.  Outside 
of  New  England,  community  areas  often  have  to  be  arbi- 
trarily denned  by  some  agreement.2 

1  John  A.  Fairlie,  Local  Government  in  Counties,  Towns,  and 
Villages,  p.  144. 

2Kenyon  L.  Butterneld,  in  E.  L.  Morgan,  Mobilizing  the 
Rural  Community,  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  Extension 
Bulletin  No.  23,  Introduction,  p.  9.  (Amherst,  Mass.:  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  College,  1918.) 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  51 

Professor  Morgan  shows  that 

in  Massachusetts  the  township  is  the  natural  local  unit. 
Things  are  done  as  a  town.  It  is  the  form  of  local  govern- 
ment. There  may  be  a  number  of  neighborhoods  within 
a  township  [town]  but  in  most  cases  their  interests  blend 
into  the  larger  community  interest.  The  person  living  in 
the  most  remote  section  of  the  town  has  as  much  interest 
in  public  affairs  and  is  as  much  a  part  of  them  as  those 
living  at  the  center.  This  being  true,  the  natural  group 
unit  for  the  larger  interests  is  usually  the  town.  In  this 
bulletin  the  terms  "community"  and  "town"  are  used  inter- 
changeably.1 

The  fact  that  many  New  England  towns 
recognize  their  unity  and  make  effective  use 
of  it  in  bringing  about  thorough  organization 
with  a  policy  and  plans  for  their  entire  life  as 
it  touches  all  interests  is  further  shown  in 
Professor  Morgan's  bulletin.  Among  several 
reports  of  Massachusetts  towns,  given  in  this 
bulletin,  the  following  report  of  Walpole 
Town  will  illustrate  the  range  and  scope  of 
their  organization: 

The  exchange  of  plans  and  projects  between  the  large 
number  of  organizations  in  the  town  has  been  of  very  great 
value  in  avoiding  over-lapping  and  stimulating  co-operation. 

A  committee  after  working  a  year  and  a  half  with  the 
assistance  of  a  landscape  architect  reported  a  plan  for 
the  physical  development  of  the  town  which  was  adopted  at 
the  town  meeting. 

JE.  L.  Morgan,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 


52        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Special  attention  has  been  given  to  boys'  and  girls'  home 
garden  work,  the  result  being  the  interesting  of  a  large 
number  of  children. 

An  agricultural  development  plan  which  included 
co-operation  between  farmers  and  manufacturers  has 
resulted  in  an  increased  acreage  of  crops. 

A  public  market  was  established  which  has  brought 
the  producer  and  consumer  together  to  the  advantage  of 
both. 

A  committee  reported  a  town  finance  plan  which  was 
adopted  by  the  town  at  its  regular  town  meeting. 

A  rural  development  plan  was  adopted  which  provided 
for  the  opening  of  some  new  roads,  the  closing  of  others 
and  the  care  and  maintenance  of  all.1 

It  becomes  evident  from  this  brief  study  of 
the  rural  New  England  town  that,  as  a  general 
proposition  for  New  England  conditions,  the 
problem  of  the  local  rural  unit  seems  to  be 
solved;  that  the  next  step,  where  such  is  true, 
is  the  framing  of  policies  and  plans  for  con- 
structive organization  and  unification  of  all 
agencies  relating  to  rural  affairs. 

4.      THE    COUNTRY    COMMUNITY    OF    THE    SOUTH 

In  the  southern  states  we  find  a  great 
lack  of  plans  for  community  life.  There  are 
no  organized  forms  of  any  significance,  as 
community  life  in  the  South  is  made  up  of 
almost  purely  country  units  apart  from  the 

1  E.  L.  Morgan,  op.  cit.,  p.  17. 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  53 

general  trading-centers.  The  individuals  of 
these  country  communities  trade  more  or  less 
in  the  trading- towns,  but  spend  a  great  deal  of 
their  day  at  the  crossroads  stores.  Their 
social  activities  are  very  little  connected  with 
the  towns  or  villages.  Professor  Galpin  in  a 
discussion  of  this  phase  says : 

The  infrequent  wants  from  a  low  standard  population — 
so  infrequent  that  the  crossroads  store  cannot  afford  the 
goods  to  supply  them — will  be  satisfied  at  a  larger  trade 
center  to  which  the  people  from  a  far  wider  area  may  come 
for  such  goods.  In  many  farming  regions  on  a  low 
standard  plane,  the  county-seat  functions  as  the  supply 
center  for  the  infrequent  or  special  demands  of  the  farm 
population  of  the  whole  county.1 

The  fact  that  the  South,  as  a  general  rule, 
possesses  no  unit  of  comprehensive  size  or  of 
a  true  community  significance  is  rather  thor- 
oughly brought  out  by  Dr.  E.  C.  Branson, 
of  the  rural  social  science  department  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  In  a  letter  to 
the  author,  under  date  of  June  8,  1920,  he  states, 
in  part,  as  follows : 

In  the  country  regions  of  the  South  there  is  rarely  ever 
a  social  or  economic  group  that  could  be  fairly  called  a 
community.     We  have  settlements  and  neighborhoods  in 

1  Charles  J.  Galpin,  The  Village  in  Relation  to  the  Surrounding 
Country,  a  paper  read  before  a  conference  on  the  village  and  the 
town  school  of  the  National  Education  Association,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  February  26,  1920. 


54       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

abundance,  but  we  have  almost  no  country  communities 
beyond  the  cross-roads  aggregations  or  the  scattered  homes 
around  the  country  church  or  the  country  school,  or  the 
score  or  two  of  dwellings  around  a  railway  station,  or  the 
factory  villages,  which,  as  a  rule,  in  North  Carolina,  are 
country  affairs — our  mills  for  the  most  part  being  located 
outside  our  incorporated  towns  or  cities. 

Which  is  to  say,  the  country  civilization  of  the  South  is 
settled  in  solitary  farmsteads,  scattered — a  few  to  the  square 
mile — throughout  vast  wilderness  spaces;  fewer  than  eight 
families  to  the  square  mile  in  North  Carolina,  both  races 
counted — fewer  than  four  families  per  square  mile  in  ten 
counties,  and  fewer  than  seventeen  families  per  square 
mile  in  our  most  populous  country  county.  And  so  it  is 
for  the  most  part  throughout  the  entire  South,  from  North 
Carolina  to  Texas. 

Virginia  has  more  country  communities  than  North 
Carolina,  and  so  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky — little  half- 
awake,  half-asleep,  half-alive,  half-dead  communities. 
North  Carolina  has  had  an  immense  increase  in  small 
towns  and  villages  since  1900.  They  are  little  trading 
centers,  mill  and  factory  centers,  and  railway  stations. 
I  estimate  that  at  present  about  one-fourth  of  our  entire 
population  is  gathered  into  sub-census-sized  towns  of  this 
sort.  Frequently  they  are  not  incorporated,  and  usually 
they  have  a  feeble  sense  of  common  necessities  and  lack 
the  impulse  to  organize  for  community  expression,  self- 
protection,  self-rule  and  regulation. 

That  a  movement  for  effectively  organized 
rural  life  in  the  South  may  find  a  way  to  over- 
come many  of  the  handicaps  enumerated  by 
Dr.  Branson  is  suggested  in  the  advent  of  the 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  55 

consolidated  school  district  unit.  A  thorough 
discussion  of  this  unit  as  of  general  applica- 
tion will  appear  in  a  later  chapter.  Mention 
will  be  made  here  of  an  interesting  southern 
example. 

Five  Points,  Chambers  County,  Alabama, 
was  a  typical  post-office  village,  common  in 
the  South,  before  any  community  spirit  was 
developed  through  school  consolidation.  In 
March,  1916,  through  constructive  local  leader- 
ship, plans  began  to  crystallize  for  new  life. 
Five  small  school  districts  were  consolidated  at 
Five  Points,  and  because  of  "the  failure  of 
the  State  Constitution  to  recognize  a  school 
district  as  a  political  or  tax  unit"  were  incor- 
porated as  a  town. 

The  incorporation  covers  a  territory  of  sixteen  square 
miles,  embracing  all  or  a  part  of  each  of  five  school  dis- 
tricts, with  a  total  population  of  1,053  people.  The  specific 
purpose  of  effecting  this  incorporation  was  to  give  a  consoli- 
dated school  district  an  opportunity  to  vote  bonds  with 
which  to  construct  a  building,  thereby  placing  the  burden  of 
financing  the  enterprise  on  the  wealth  of  the  new  district.1 

A  full  discussion  of  the  complete  change  in 
the  community  life  of  these  districts  and  the 
success  of  the  organization  plans  is  found  in 

1  Consolidation  of  Schools  and  Transportation  of  Pupils,  p.  65. 
Bulletin  No.  56,  Alabama  Department  of  Education,  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. 


56       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

the  bulletin  referred  to  above.  The  following 
quotations  will  be  given  here  to  show  the  trend 
of  the  movement: 

The  Five  Point  Community  Association  is  an  organiza- 
tion in  which  young  and  old  alike  are  eligible  to  member- 
ship. It  seeks  neighborhood  betterment  along  definite 
lines.  It  holds  bi-weekly  meetings  at  the  school  build- 
ings on  Friday  nights  for  the  discussion  of  plans  of  general 
interest,  and  to  enlist  the  number  of  helpers  needed  in  any 
determined  undertaking. 

The  work  is  carried  on  under  the  committee  system. 
The  several  committees  and  their  duties1  are  as  follows: 

i.  A  Committee  on  Public  Schools. 

2.  A  Committee  on  Health  and  Community  Sanitation. 

3.  A  Committee  on  Literary,  Musical  and  Social 
Culture. 

4.  A  Committee  on  Agriculture  and  Home  Economics. 

5.  A  Committee  on  Finances.2 

5.   THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  INCORPORATION  PLAN 

This  plan,  a  copy  of  the  law  relating  to 
which  is  here  given,3  is  a  conscious  movement 
on  the  part  of  rural  communities  compris- 
ing whole  school  districts  to  find  expression 
in  a  legalized  manner.  It  is  a  significant 
movement    and    contains    many   possibilities. 

1  For  duties,  see  the  bulletin. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  70-71. 

3  See  Appendix  A. 


THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  57 

Dr.  Branson  says  it  is  a  tardy  recognition  of 
Thomas  Jefferson's  wisdom.  In  a  letter,  under 
date  of  June  8,  1920,  Dr.  Branson  says: 

Only  six  genuine  communities  have  ever  been  organized 
under  our  community  incorporation  law,  and  these  are 
organized  on  paper  only.  One  or  two  of  them  have  levied 
a  local  tax  for  schools,  but  nothing  more  so  far  as  I  can 
learn. 

The  chief  criticism  of  this  plan  may  be 
found,  perhaps,  in  the  fact  that  its  application 
is  restricted  to  the  small  area  of  a  country- 
school  district;  that  it  follows  the  district 
boundaries  as  they  have  been  either  naturally 
or  artificially  laid  out  with  regard  or  disregard 
to  whole  communities.  Matters  will  be  helped 
very  little,  on  the  whole,  until  there  has  been 
introduced  into  the  plans  sufficient  flexibility 
for  comprehensive  community  life,  which  allows 
for  the  free  and  unhampered  self-determina- 
tion of  communities;  previously  established 
artificial  lines  should  not  be  allowed  to  inter- 
fere. Provision  should  be  made  for  setting 
them  aside  where  they  do  not  serve  as  bounda- 
ries of  social  and  economic  cleavage. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL 
DISTRICT 

Inasmuch  as  the  idea  of  the  consolidation  of 
schools  is  spreading  very  rapidly  into  every 
state  in  the  Union,  it  becomes  evident  at  once 
that  the  community  value  of  the  consolidated 
school  district  is  a  subject  demanding  our 
closest  attention.  The  connection  between  a 
district  and  the  full  and  complete  life  of  rural 
neighborhoods  appears  quite  marked  as  a  study 
of  the  district  progresses.  Much  has  been 
written,  and  is  being  written,  extolling  the 
virtues  of  the  consolidated  school  from  an 
educational  and  pedagogical  standpoint,  but 
information  which  develops  the  district  as  a 
unit  of  rural  life  is  very  limited. 

In  this  chapter  the  results  of  a  first-hand 
study  of  two  sections  of  the  country  will  be 
given.  Randolph  County,  Indiana,  and  Mar- 
shall County,  Iowa,  have  both  been  visited  and 
studied  closely  relative  to  the  community  value 
of  the  consolidated  school  district. 

58 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     59 
I.      RANDOLPH   COUNTY,    INDIANA 

Randolph  County  is  situated  in  east-central 
Indiana,  bordering  upon  the  Indiana-Ohio  state 
line.  It  contains  460  square  miles,  is  almost 
square  in  outline,  and  is  a  purely  agricultural 
county.  A  system  of  finely  improved  highways 
of  crushed  rock,  gravel,  and  concrete  construc- 
tion traverses  the  county  thoroughly,  and  one 
seldom  sees  a  dirt  road  in  this  county.  The 
land  is  level  to  undulating  in  typography; 
almost  every  acre  of  it  is  tillable.  The  county 
is  covered  with  well-improved  farms.  There 
are  many  up-to-date  farm  homes  in  the  county; 
the  general  type  of  home  is  comfortable,  neat, 
and  well  kept.  The  agriculture  throughout 
the  county  is  much  the  same  in  all  sections  and 
consists  of  general  grain  and  live-stock  raising. 
The  soil  varies  from  a  dark  brown  or  black  silty 
clay  loam  to  light  gray  silt  loams.  All  the 
land  is  fairly  well  tilled  and  is,  on  the  whole, 
productive.  Randolph  County,  agriculturally, 
ranks  as  one  of  the  better  counties  of  Indiana. 

The  county  is  composed  of  twelve  civil  town- 
ships which  range  in  area  from  24  to  74  square 
miles.  The  assessed  valuations  of  these  town- 
ships  range   from   $1,000,000   to   $3, 500,000. x 

1  Data  obtained  from  Report  of  the  county  superintendent. 


60        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

According  to  the  figures  for  the  Federal  Census 
for  1920,  the  population  of  the  townships  ranges 
from  815  inhabitants  in  Green,  a  rural  township, 
to  6,029  in  White  River,  a  township  of  72  square 
miles,  containing  the  city  of  Winchester,  the 
county  seat.  In  Table  I  will  be  found  the 
latest  Federal  Census  figures,  giving,  also,  the 
returns  for  19 10  and  1900.  A  comparison  of 
these  figures  reveals  a  slight  decline  in  popula- 
tion, in  both  incorporated  places  and  in  rural 
areas,  between  the  years  19 10  and  1920.  There 
is  an  8.7  per  cent  decline  for  the  county  as  a 
whole.  There  was  a  slight  increase,  1.3  per 
cent,  for  the  decade  between  1900  and  19 10. 
Of  the  total  population  for  1920,  11,846  live  in 
incorporated  places,  and  14,638  live  in  the 
country.  The  smallest  incorporated  place  re- 
corded in  this  census  is  one  of  256  inhabitants. 
Two  townships,  Green  and  Jackson,  are  entirely 
rural.  Former  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Lee  Driver,  stated  in  a  recent  address 
that  the  population  of  the  county  is  at  least 
99  per  cent  American-born. 

The  rural  homes  throughout  the  county 
average  about  five  to  six  persons  per  family; 
the  farms  average  from  100  to  160  acres  in  size. 
There  is  a  somewhat  closer  settlement  of  families 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     61 

TABLE  I 

Comparative  Population  Statistics  of  Randolph  County, 
Indiana* 


Minor  Civil  Division 


Randolph  County 

Franklin   Township,   including   Ridge- 

ville  town 

Green  Township 

Greensfork  Township 

Jackson  Township 

Monroe  Township,  including  Farmland 

and  Parker  City  towns 

Nettle      Creek     Township,     including 

Bronson  town  and  part  of  Modoc 

town 

Stony  Creek  Township 

Ward    Township,    including    Saratoga 

town 

Washington  Township,  including  Lynn 

town 

Wayne  Township,  including  Union  City 
West  River  Township,  including  part  of 

Modoc  town 

White  River  Township,  including  Win 

Chester  City 


Incorporated  Place 


1920 


26,484 

1,675 

815 
1,690 
1,116 

2,414 


I,3lo 
940 

1,608 

2,353 
4,837 

i,397 

6,329 


1920 


29,013 

1,987 

985 
1,746 

!,205 
2,669 


1,542 
1,114 

1,875 

2,562 
4,772 

i,557 
6,999 


1910 


1900 


28,653 

1,867 
i,095 
2,086 

1,323 
2,792 


i,475 
1,116 

i,835 

2,560 
4,372 

1,670 

6,462 


1900 


Bronson  town  (Losantville  post-office) . 

Farmland  town 

Lynn  town 

Modoc  town 

Parker  City  town 

Ridgeville  town 

Saratoga  town 

Union  Cityf 

Winchester  City 


321 
878 
898 
256 
697 
1,042 

327 
3,4o6 
4,021 


300 

907 

917 

261 

800 

1,302 

410 

3,209 

4,266 


177 
870 

705 
221 

909 
1,098 


2,716 
3,705 


*  Fourteenth  Census:  Preliminary  Announcement  of  Population.  Subject 
to  correction.  Department  of  Commerce,  Bureau  of  the  Census,  Washington, 
D.C. 

t  Joint  population  of  Union  City,  Indiana,  and  Union  City  village,  Ohio: 
1920,  4,940;   1910,  4,804;   1900, 3,998. 


62        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

in  the  northeastern  and  eastern  portions  of  the 
county  than  in  the  southwestern  and  western. 
Five  railroads  and  one  interurban  line  serve  the 
county  thoroughly.  Two  small  rivers  cross  it 
from  east  to  west;1  both  are  easily  bridged. 

With  this  introduction  and  setting,  we  shall 
now  proceed  to  a  discussion  of  the  movement 
leading  to  the  unique  position  of  the  county  in 
consolidation  experience.  Randolph  County 
ranks  among  the  first  in  Indiana  in  point  of  con- 
solidation. It  is  now  over  95  per  cent  consoli- 
dated. So  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  it  now 
stands  ahead  of  any  other  county  in  the  country. 
About  1890,  before  consolidation  commenced, 
there  were  131  rural  schools  of  the  small-scale 
type  in  Randolph  County.  At  the  present  writ- 
ing (June,  1920)  there  are  only  3  left;  word 
from  the  county  superintendent  of  schools,  Mr. 
0.  H.  Greist,  is  that  measures  are  being  taken 
to  add  2  of  these  to  adjoining  consolidated 
districts  by  fall.  In  place  of  the  131  abandoned 
one-room  schools,  there  are  21  consolidated 
schools,  5  of  which  are  graded  schools  only  and 
16  of  which  have  both  graded  and  high-school 
departments.  Six  of  the  latter  are  located  in 
the  open  country. 

1  See  map,  Appendix  B. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     63 

The  success  of  these  schools  is  shown  in  part 
at  least  by  the  following  data  issued  from  the 
county  superintendent's  office,  April  12,  1920. 

TABLE  11 

Some  Results  from  School  Consolidation 


Number  of  Schools 

Schools,  Teachers,  and  Pupils 

Before  Con- 
solidation 

After  Con- 
solidation 
April,  1920 

One-room  schools 

131 

1 

61 

148 

21-50 

4 

16 

718 

Commissioned  high  schools 

High-school  pupils 

Teachers  in  graded  schools 

Percentage  of  eighth-grade  graduates 
in  high  school 

86 
96 

In  191 5  of  240  eighth-grade  graduates,  230  entered 
high  school. 

In  1916  of  242  eighth-grade  graduates,  230  entered 
high  school. 

In  191 7  of  253  eighth-grade  graduates,  243  entered 
high  school. 

In  19 1 8  of  232  eighth-grade  graduates,  227  entered 
high  school. 

From  an  educational  and  social  standpoint, 
among  the  young  folks  alone,  these  schools  have 
vast  possibilities.  As  they  come  to  touch  more 
and  more  closely  the  lives  of  all  young  people 
within  their  districts,  they  will  to  that  degree 
grow  more  efficient  as  builders  of  a  community 


64        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

consciousness.  When  the  young  folks  now  in 
these  schools  become  active  in  the  business 
affairs  of  the  district,  they  are  going  to  have  a 
greater  sense  of  the  community  significance  of 
the  district  than  will  their  elders.  The  training 
together  at  their  educational  center  develops 
in  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  consolidated  district 
a  relationship  to  the  district  as  a  whole;  a 
community  sense  grows  up  out  of  acquaintance- 
ship with  boys  and  girls  from  all  parts  of  the 
district. 

In  an  undated  report  of  an  address  given  by 
Lee  L.  Driver,  former  county  superintendent 
of  schools  of  Randolph  County,  we  have  the 
following  view  concerning  community  activities 
of  the  consolidated  school: 

No  school  is  at  its  best  unless  it  functions  as  a  com- 
munity center,  neither  is  a  community  at  its  best  unless  its 
interests  center  in  and  around  its  school.  For  this  reason 
the  school  as  a  community  center  has  been  employed  very 
largely.  The  school  buildings  are  used  for  all  kinds  of 
legitimate  community  meetings.  During  this  past  winter, 
they  have  been  used  for  Farmers'  Institutes,  which  have 
been  attended  by  more  than  four  thousand  people.  Com- 
munity Clubs,  Parent-Teachers'  Associations,  Farmers' 
Clubs,  Sunday  School  Conventions,  Community  Socials, 
Lecture  Courses,  School  Plays,  Concerts  and  nearly  every 
commencement  will  be  held  in  a  consolidated  school.  When 
a  meeting  is  announced,  it  is  understood  that  it  will  be  held 
in  the  school  building. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     6 


This  has  brought  people  together  who  otherwise  would 
have  been  almost  unknown  to  each  other,  and  whose  influ- 
ence upon  the  community  would  have  been  lost.  The 
consolidated  school  in  this  way  serves  as  the  greatest 
socializer  that  a  community  can  possibly  have. 

In  a  case  of  such  complete  consolidation  as 
given  in  Randolph  County,  it  is  of  much  interest 
from  a  community-study  standpoint  to  see  how 
the  various  consolidated  schools  have  divided 
the  area  among  themselves.  The  question 
arises,  Have  they  followed  what  seems  to  be  the 
outline  of  natural  communities,  or  is  there  a 
tendency  to  adhere  to  the  straight  and  pre- 
viously established  township  and  other  civil 
boundaries  ? 

An  inspection  of  the  map  of  Randolph 
County  (Appendix  B),  giving  the  outlines  of 
the  districts  and  the  location  of  the  consolidated 
schools,  shows  that,  in  some  cases,  township 
lines  have  been  disregarded.  Illustration  is 
found  in  Monroe  Township,  where  between  its 
two  schools  and  Stony  Creek  Township  on  the 
south  a  river  is  used  as  the  dividing  line.  Also, 
on  the  west,  the  county  line  is  disregarded  and, 
on  the  east,  the  school  district  in  Monroe 
Township  extends  beyond  the  township  line 
into  White  River  Township.  In  the  case  be- 
tween Nettle  Creek  and  West  River  townships, 


66       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

we  find  a  school  located  on  the  line  and 
a  consolidated  district  carved  out  of  portions 
of  the  two  areas.  Small  village  and  town 
centers  have  been  utilized  to  a  considerable 
extent  and  a  consolidated  district  thrown 
around  them. 

On  the  whole,  it  seems  that  the  people 
have  done  well  in  outlining  their  consolidated 
districts  in  comformity  with  natural,  socio- 
economic units  of  population.  There  are  a  few 
instances  where  the  former  boundaries  of  civil 
areas  seem  to  have  had  undue  influence.  One 
of  the  most  striking  of  these  is  the  long,  narrow 
consolidated  district  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Washington  Township,  with  the  school  located 
very  near  the  township  line;  another  case  might 
be  that  of  the  consolidated  graded  district 
adjoining  this  one  on  the  east. 

A  study  of  the  various  consolidated  school 
districts  of  Randolph  County  shows  that,  in 
the  main,  the  farmers  and  their  families  do 
recognize  their  district  as  their  community  for 
the  major  portion,  at  least,  of  their  social, 
economic,  and  religious  activities.  Besides 
co-operating  upon  this  basis  in  the  support  of 
their  school,  they  co-operate  also  in  the  support 
of  their  farmers'  clubs,  meetings,  picnics,  and 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     67 

the  like,  as  pointed  out  in  the  previously  men- 
tioned address  of  the  former  county  superin- 
tendent. These  facts  are  well  shown  by  Tables 
III,  IV,  and  V.  The  census  figures  here  given 
are  taken  from  the  1920  Federal  Census.  The 
data  relating  to  the  areas  of  the  school  districts 
were  obtained  with  the  aid  of  school  trustees, 
who  assisted  in  the  construction  of  the  accom- 
panying map.  All  other  data  were  given  by 
County  Agricultural  Agent  Hodgson,  formerly 
of  Randolph  County;  some  of  these  data  are 
a  matter  of  record  in  the  office  of  the  county 
agricultural  agent  at  Winchester. 

There  are  four  consolidated  graded  schools 
which  are  not  included  in  the  table;  they  have 
small  districts,  are  generally  two-room  schools, 
and  their  districts  are  not  social  and  economic 
units. 

Many  interesting  facts  may  be  observed 
by  a  study  of  the  tables,  which  reflect,  however, 
only  a  portion  of  the  social  and  economic 
activities  of  the  people.  These  tables  are  not 
intended  to  be  complete,  but  to  represent  the 
general  tendencies  of  movements  in  the  county. 
The  districts  containing  no  town  or  village  show 
less  variety  and  less  leadership  in  community 
life.     Storekeepers,  bankers,  and  other  business 


68        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

TABLE  III 

Name,  Location,  and  Area  of  Consolidated  Districts 


Area  of  Dis- 

Consolidated 
District 

Location  of  District 

trict  in 
Square 
Miles 

Saragota 

East  part  of  Ward  Township 

I4-50 

Jefferson 

West  part  of  Ward  Township 

21.50 

Jackson 

Jackson  Township 

30.00 

Ridgeville.  .  .  . 

Franklin  Township 

24.00 

Green 

Green  Township 

29.25 

Parker 

West  part  of  Monroe  Township 

19.00 

Farmland.  .  .  . 

East  part  of  Monroe  Township 

27.50 

Stony  Creek .  . 

Stony  Creek  Township 

23.00 

McKinley .... 

West  part  of  White  River  Township 

32.50 

Lincoln 

East  part  of  White  River  Township 

37-50 

Wayne 

South  part  of  Wayne  Township 

26.50 

Spartanburg.  . 

East  part  of  Greensfork  Township 

30.00 

Lynn 

East  part  of  Washington  Township 

21  .OO 

Beech  Grove. . 

West  part  of  Washington  Township 

16.OO 

Huntsville. . . . 

West  River  Township 

27.OO 

Modoc 

Between  Nettle  Creek  and  West  River 

townships 

29.OO 

Losantville.  .  . 

West  part  of  Nettle  Creek  Township 

20.00 

TABLE  IV 

Area  of  Townships  and  Density  of  Population 


Township 


Franklin.  .  .  . 

Green 

Greensfork.  . 

Jackson 

Monroe 

Nettle  Creek 
Stony  Creek. 

Ward 

Wayne 

Washington . 
West  River .  . 
White  River. 


Area  in  Square 

Persons  Per 

Miles 

Square  Mile* 

24 

26.3 

29\ 

27.8 

50+ 

36.O 

30 

37-2 

29i 

28.6 

31* 

27-3 

26^ 

35-4 

36 

35-5 

40+ 

35-7 

44 

33-o 

40 

31.0 

72 

32.4 

*  Data  here  relate  to  the  open  country  exclusive  of  all  villages  and  towns 
as  listed  in  1020  Census,  Table  I. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     69 

TABLE  V 

Consolidated  Districts,  Their  Urban  Centers  and 
Chief  Community  Events 


Name  of 
Consoli- 
dated 
District 


Name  of 
Town  or 
Village 


Population 

of  Town  or 

Village 

Churches  In 

Center 

Country 

327 
No  census 
data 

2 
1 

0 

1 

4 
I 

1,042 

3 

5 
No  data 

697 

3 

878 

3 

2 
3 

2 

4,021 

No 
data 

2 

3 
2 

No  census 
data 

1 

898 

2 

1 
2 

No  census 
data 

1 

No  data 

256 
321 

2 
2 

No  data 
No  data 

Outstanding 
Community 
Activities 


Saratoga .  . 
Jefferson .  . 


Jackson .  . 
Ridgeville 


Green. 


Parker 

Farmland. . . 

Stony  Creek 
McKinley .  . 
Lincoln 


South  part  of 
Wayne . 


Spartanburg.. 


Lynn  .... 
Beech  Grove. 


Huntsville . 


Modoc .... 
Losantville. 


Saratoga 
Deerfield 


No  town  in 
area 

Ridgeville 


No  town  in 
area 


Parker 
Farmland 


Very  small 

hamlet   in 

edge  of 

area 
At  edge  of 

Winchester 


Winchester 


No  town  in 
area 

Spartanburg 


Lynn 

No  town  in 

area 
Huntsville 


Modoc 
Losantville 


Farmers'  Institute 
association 
meets    monthly 

Community  meet- 
ing monthly  at 
school 

Annual  Old  Set- 
tlers' picnic 
Community  fair 
in  October 

Plays  and  enter- 
tainments at 
school 

Social,   Lyceum, 
school  plays 

Annual  fall  com- 
munity fair,  an- 
nual corn  show 

Lacks  leadership 


School   center    to 

certain     extent; 

proximity  to  city 

detracts 
Chief    events    at 

Winchester 

Annual    Farmers' 

Institute, School 

Socials 
Lyceum,     annual 

spring    opening 

of  store 
Community  fair 
Interest   declining 

Farmers'  Institute 
association 
meets    monthly 
School  lyceum 
Lacks  leadership 


70        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

men  in  some  of  the  small  towns  of  this  county 
are  great  assets  to  their  communities.     They 

TABLE  VI 

Membership  in  Farmers'  Federation  and  Average 

Attendance  at  Farmers'  Meetings  in 

Consolidated  Districts 


Name  of 
Consoli- 
dated 
District 

Mem- 
bers of 
County 
Farm- 
ers' 
Federa- 
tion 

Attendance  At 

Annual 
Farmers' 
Institute 

1915 
Farm  Club 
Meetings 

Other  Farmers' 
Meetings 

Saratoga  \ 
Jefferson  y" 

Jackson 

Ridgeville. . .  . 

Green 

Parker        \ 
Farmland  / '  * 

70 

94 
93 
32 

87 

3i 
29 

68 
153 
88 

/130 
I194 

55° 

130 

45o 

f200 
\200 

120;  45;  120 
118; 100; 75; 

4°;  45 
75 ;  90;  60; 

10;  30 
120 

45;  65;  100; 
100 

Horse  meeting,  45 
Orchard  meeting,  25 
Oat-smut  meeting,  38 
Horse  meeting,  65 
Oat-smut  meeting,  52 
Parent-teachers,  125 
Oat-smut  meeting,  9 
Oat-smut  meeting,  38 

150;  25;  25 
(70;  64;  49; 
15 

[120;  45;  120 

68 

47;  45;  25; 
20 

Arbor  Day,  200 

McKinley  ] 
Lincoln       J 

Wayne 

Spartanburg. . 
Lynn 

Farmers'  In- 
stitute 
held  in 
Winchester 
35o 

500 

3  So 

Oat-smut  meeting,  18 

Oat-smut  meeting,  25 

Horse  meeting,  20 
Oat-smut  meeting,  40 
Horse  meeting,  72 
Oat-smut  meeting,  89 

65;  65;  54; 

60;  100; 

49;  30 
42;47;  75 

65;  35;  130; 
90 

Huntsville .... 

Modoc 

Losantvillej 

no 
32 

124 

J310 

Oat-smut  meeting,  52 

Parent-teachers,  85 
Oat-smut  meeting,  88 
Oat-smut  meeting,  35 

help  with  corn  shows,  fairs,  institutes,  and  the 
like.     It  seems  that  Randolph  County,  on  the 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     71 

whole,  has  been  right  in  forming  her  consoli- 
dated districts,  whenever  possible,  around  the 
local  town  or  village. 

2.      MARSHALL   COUNTY,    IOWA 

Marshall  County  is  situated  near  the  central 
part  of  the  state;  it  is  square  in  outline  and 
contains  576  square  miles,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  well-improved  farming  land.  This  is 
strictly  an  agricultural  county,  producing  corn, 
oats,  wheat,  hay,  and  live  stock.  It  is  one  of 
the  good  agricultural  counties  of  Iowa.  The 
soil  consists  chiefly  of  a  black  to  brown  silt  loam, 
except  along  the  Iowa  River  and  some  of  the 
larger  streams  where,  because  of  heavy  timber- 
ing, it  is  of  a  lighter  character.  The  topog- 
raphy is  chiefly  undulating  to  rolling.  The  Iowa 
River  flows  from  the  north  to  the  southeast 
through  the  upper  half  of  the  county;  it, 
together  with  its  larger  tributaries,  gives 
adjacent  timbered  and  broken  areas.  Mar- 
shalltown  is  the  county  seat  and  only  city  in 
the  area.  All  the  other  towns  and  villages  in 
the  county  are  farmers'  small  trading-centers. 
Marshalltown  is  a  good  farmers'  county-seat 
city  and  draws  much  of  its  resources  from  the 
surrounding  country.     According  to  the  19 10 


72        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Federal  Census,  it  had  a  population  of  13,374; 
its  population  at  present  comes  close  to  16,000. 
The  1920  Federal  Census  for  Marshall  County 
is  not  available  at  this  writing,  but  the  follow- 
ing table  (VII)  of  the  19 10  Census  will  give 
a  fair  indication  of  the  distribution  of  the 
population. 

Data  obtained  in  the  office  of  the  county 
agricultural  agent  at  Marshalltown  show  that 
there  are  2,200  farm  homes  in  Marshall  County, 
and  that  they  average  about  five  persons  per 
home  and  four  homes  per  section  of  land.  This 
gives  the  farms  an  average  size  of  160  acres. 
This  density  of  population  on  the  farm  is  quite 
uniform  throughout  the  county,  varying  a 
little  here  and  there.  In  some  of  the  timbered 
areas  settlement  may  be  found  somewhat 
closer,  and  in  a  few  prairie  areas  somewhat 
more  diffused. 

The  farms  and  farm  homes  in  Marshall 
County  show  thrift  and  indicate  a  progressive 
people.  The  roads  are  dirt,  but  well  built,  and 
placed,  as  a  general  rule,  on  section  lines. 
Communication  is  good  throughout  the  county. 
Considerable  complaint  is  made  of  the  roads 
during  portions  of  the  winter  and  spring  when 
they  may  become  difficult  of  passage. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     73 

TABLE  VII 

Population  Statistics  for  Marshall  County,  Iowa* 

Marshall  County,  Iowa 30,279 

Bangor  Township 537 

Eden  Township,  including  Edenville  town 968 

Edenville  town 448 

Greencastle  Township,  including  Ferguson  and 

Gilman 1,362 

Ferguson  town 127 

Gilman  town 430 

Iowa  Township,  including  Albion  town 771 

Albion  town 457 

Jefferson  Township,  including  Laurel  town 952 

Laurel  town 179 

Le  Grand  Township,  including  Le  Grand  town  . .  1,385 

Le  Grand  town 338 

Liberty  Township,  including  St.  Anthony  town. .  879 

St.  Anthony  town 199 

Linn  Township 976 

Liscomb  Township,  including  Liscomb  town  ....  944 

Liscomb  town 354 

Logan  Township,  including  Melbourne  town 1,079 

Melbourne  town 423 

Marietta  Township 732 

Marion  Township 971 

Marshall  Township,  co-extensive  with  Marshall- 
town  City 13,374 

Marshalltown  City 13, 374 

Minerva  Township,  including  Clemons  town ....  927 

demons  town 213 

State  Center  Township,  including  State  Center 

town 1,537 

State  Center  town 898 

Taylor  Township 446 

Timber  Creek  Township 976 

Vienna  Township 675 

Washington  Township 787 

*  Taken  from  iqio  Federal  Census,  Report  on  Population. 


74       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 


As  close  a  study  has  not  been  made  of 
Marshall  County  as  was  made  of  Randolph 
County  because  of  the  newness  of  consolidation 

TABLE  VIII 
General  Survey  of  Marshall  County* 


Township 

Tenancy, 
High 
or  Low 

Chief 
Nation- 
ality 

Topog- 
raphy 

Prevailing 
Type  of 
Farming 

Other  Farmers' 

Organizations  t 

Present 

English 
German 

Irish 

Rough 

General 
Live  stock 

General 

Live  stock 

General 

Live  stock 

Live  stock 

General 
Grain 

General 

General 

General 

Truck 
Live  stock 
General 
Live  stock 
General 

General 

General 

Friends'  church 

Eden 

Green  Castle 

Middle- 
low 
Middle- 
high 
Low 

Community  club,  con- 
solidated school 
Consolidated  school 

Consolidated     school 

German 
English 

Co-operative  elevator 

Co-operative  elevator, 
parochial  school 
Friends'    church    club, 

Liberty 

Low 

Co-operative  elevato  , 
consolidated  school  - 

Rough 

live-stock     shipping 
association,    Friends' 
church,  creamery  and 
elevators 

Middle- 
high 

Middle- 
low 

Middle- 
high 

High 
High 

Consolidated  school  (2), 

Marietta .  .  . 
Marion 

Subject 
to  over- 
flow 
Hilly 

community  club 
Farmers'  club 

Co-operative     elevator, 
lumber    yard,      com- 
munity club 

State  Center 
Taylor 

German 

Co-operative    creamery 

Middle- 
high 

German 

Rough 

Creek 

Vienna 

Farmers'    community 

club 
Consolidated    school, 

community  club 

*  Data  furnished  by  Murl  McDonald,  state  leader  of  county  agricultural 
agents,  Ames,  Iowa. 

t  Reference  here  is  probably  to  the  Farm  Bureau  Association. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     75 

to  this  section  and  to  Iowa.  It  is  thought, 
however,  that  the  trend  of  the  movement  in 
this  county  and  the  policy  being  adopted  make 
it  worth  while  to  look  into  the  situation. 

There  are  fourteen  consolidated  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  county,  and  six  consolidations 
partly  within  the  county  and  partly  within 
adjoining  counties.  The  size  of  the  districts 
ranges  from  12  to  28  square  miles  and  in  all 
except  two  cases  the  districts  are  formed  around 
town  and  village  centers.  County  Superintend- 
ent of  Schools  C.  E.  Shutt,  of  Marshalltown, 
writing  under  date  of  April  2,  1920,  makes  the 
following  statements  concerning  the  community 
value  and  general  aspects  of  the  consolidated 
school  district: 

The  consolidated  schools  of  this  county  contain  on  an 
average  about  twenty  sections.  It  would  be  better  if  they 
had  a  greater  acreage,  and  they  would  be  larger  if  it  were 
not  for  the  fear,  which  I  think  is  largely  unfounded,  that 
the  increased  size  would  augment  the  difficulties  of  transpor- 
tation. Township  and  even  county  lines  are  disregarded 
in  the  formation  of  them.  The  idea  governing  them  is  that 
of  efficient  community  service  rather  than  that  of  con- 
formity to  established  lines  of  previous  organizations. 
The  territory  included  in  them  forms  a  unit  for  social,  educa- 
tional and  sometimes  religious  centers.  The  school  build- 
ing is  constructed  usually  with  a  gymnasium  which  can  be 
used  for  games,  lectures  and  other  purposes   where  the 


76        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

people  of  the  community  meet.  The  domestic  science 
equipment,  installed  for  school  purposes,  is  convenient 
when  it  is  desired  to  serve  lunch  on  these  public  occasions. 

The  data  relating  to  the  project  record  for 
the  year  ending  December  31,  1918,  represent 
attendance  of  farmers  in  the  various  townships 
at  meetings  held  by  the  county  agricultural 
agent.  In  conversation  with  the  agent,  he 
stated  that  these  data  represent,  in  the  main, 
attendance  from  consolidated  school  districts, 
where  they  are  found  in  the  township,  because 
most  of  his  meetings  are  staged  at  the  school. 
The  county  home  demonstration  agent  and 
county  agricultural  agent  both  state  that  the 
consolidated  school  district  as  a  unit  of  rural 
life  greatly  facilitates  their  work;  that  the 
people  in  these  districts  act  more  unitedly  and 
more  effectively  than  do  those  in  the  other  areas 
of  the  county. 

The  county  home  demonstration  agent  has, 
within  the  county,  about  fifteen  ladies'  organi- 
zations which  recognize,  to  a  very  large  extent, 
the  consolidated  school  district  as  the  unit  in  the 
formation  of  their  organizations.  Although 
the  methods  of  organization  of  both  farm- 
bureau  and  home-demonstration  work  is  based, 
in  accordance  with  uniform  state  plans,  upon 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     77 

TABLE  IX 

Project  Record  for  Marshall  County,  Iowa* 
(For  year  ending  December  31,  1918) 


Township 


Bangor, 


Eden. 


Green  Castle .  . . 


Iowa 


Jefferson . 


Le  Grand. 


Nature  of  Work.  Done 


Number 
of  Meet- 
ings 
Held 


Dual    demonstration:      wheat 

diseases 
Cow-test  association 
Seed  corn 
Liming  demonstration 

Junior  club 
Seed  corn 
Swine  production 
Liming  demonstration 

Soy  beans 

Cow-test  association 
Hog  cholera 
Swine  production 
Liming  demonstration 

Cow-test  association 
Junior  club 
Seed  corn 

Dual    demonstration:     wheat 

diseases 
Seed  corn 
Swine  production 

Dual  demonstration 

Poultry 

Junior  club 

Seed  corn 

Swine  production 


Attend- 
ance t 


*5 

30 


30 


4 
60 

25 


20 
25 
30 

20 
20 
60 

25 
30 


*  Data  here  furnished  by  Murl  McDonald,  state  leader  of  county  agri- 
cultural agents,  Ames,  Iowa. 

t  The  data  relating  to  attendance  at  meetings  are  evidently  approxima- 
tions in  many  cases.  Their  value  lies  in  showing  the  general  trend  of  interest  in 
such  activities  in  rural  communities. 


78       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 
TABLE  IX— Continued 


Township 


Nature  of  Work  Done 


Number 
of  Meet- 
ings 
Held 


Attend- 
ance 


Liberty.  . 

Linn. . . . 

Liscomb . 

Logan . . 

Marietta 
Marion . 

Marshall 

Minerva 


State  Center. 


Junior  club 

Farmers'  Institute 

Dual    demonstration:     wheat 

diseases 
Liming  demonstration 
Cow- test  association 

Dual  demonstration 

Dual    demonstration:     wheat 

diseases 
Cow-test  association 
Junior  club 

Junior  club 
Seed  corn 
Swine  production 
Seed  corn 

Orchard  spraying 
Seed  corn 

Egg  candling 
Hog  cholera 
Bee  meeting 

Dual    demonstration:     wheat 

diseases 
Cow-test  association 
Seed  corn 

Co-operative  creamery  meeting 
Co-operative  creamery  picnic 


[Dual    demonstration: 

diseases 
I  Junior  club 
]  Hog  cholera 

Seed  corn 

Swine  production 


wheat 


60 
45 


4 
60 


25 
30 

25 

25 
25 

40 

25 
26 


20 
4 

25 

40 

300 


20 
60 
25 
25 
30 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     79 
TABLE  IX— Continued 


Township 


Taylor. 


Timber  Creek 
ViennaJ 


Washington . 


County-wide 
projects.  .  . 


Nature  of  Work  Done 


Number 
of  Meet- 
ings 
Held 


Cow-test  association 
Community  club 
Community  club 

Swine  production 
Cane  meeting 

'Dual  demonstration 
Soy  beans 

Cow-test  association 
Junior  club 
Seed  corn 
Swine  production 

'Seed  corn 
Swine  congress 
Soil  survey 

Exchange   farm   labor- 
placed 
Wheat  acreage 
Cane  mill 

Barberry  eradication 
Threshers'  association 
Fall  wheat  survey 
Fall  seed-corn  survey 
Stock-judging  contest 
County  fair 
State  fair  exhibit 
Swine  congress 


-420 


Attend- 
ance 


4 
60 
60 

30 

IS 


5 
60 

25 
30 

33 

i,i37 

20 


60 


300 


34 
500 


%  Farmers  in  southern  part  of  Vienna  Township  attend  community  meet- 
ings in  Marion  Township. 

the  township  as  the  unit,  both  agents  in 
Marshall  County  look  forward  to  the  time 
when  it  may  be  changed  and  based,  instead, 
upon  the  consolidated  school  district  unit. 


80        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

One  of  the  interesting  features  of  the  study 
of  the  Marshall  County  consolidated  school 
districts  is  the  disregard  the  people  show  for 
formerly  established  county,  township,  and  the 
district-school  boundary  lines.  The  accom- 
panying county  map,1  showing  the  outlines  of 
the  consolidated  districts,  illustrates  this  point. 
They  bound  the  consolidated  district  as  accu- 
rately as  possible  by  the  limits  of  their  natural 
community,  all  having  equal  opportunity  to  say 
whether  or  not  they  wish  to  affiliate  with  the 
new  unit.  The  only  limitation  the  law  imposes 
is  that  the  district  lines  must  follow  either 
quarter-section  or  section  lines. 

1  See  Appendix  C. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL 
DISTRICT— Continued 

(Views  from  Various  Sources) 

There  will  be  brought  together  in  this 
chapter  the  results  of  correspondence  with 
educators  in  different  states  relative  to  the 
community  value  of  the  consolidated  school 
district.  Newspaper  articles,  various  educa- 
tional reports,  and  bulletins  have  also  been 
used  in  presenting  the  general  trend  of  the 
consolidation  movement  as  it  relates  itself  to 
our  special  line  of  investigation.  Most  of  the 
material  will  be  presented  as  it  came  to  the 
writer,  using  direct  quotations  in  large  part. 
The  aim  is  to  show,  in  the  words  of  leaders 
themselves,  the  feeling  held  toward  this  new 
district  unit  and  the  direction  of  the  movement. 

I.      COLORADO 

Consolidation  of  schools  is  progressing  rather 
rapidly  in  some  sections  of  this  state.  The 
state  superintendent  of  public   instruction  in 

81 


82       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

a  letter  under  date  of  March  23,  1920,  writes 
as  follows: 

The  state  has  many  fine  consolidations.  One  of  the 
very  best  is  the  Sargent  consolidation.  This  is  a  typical 
rural  consolidation  and  embraces  at  least  eight  ordinary 
school  districts.  They  have  a  large  auditorium  to  accom- 
modate the  community  and  where  all  the  community 
services  are  held. 

Nearly  all  of  Rio  Grande  County  is  now  made  up  of 
consolidated  districts.  There  are  four  in  the  entire  county 
with  four  small  outlying  school  districts,  which  in  time  will 
join  one  of  the  consolidations. 

Miss  Carrie  Dietrich,  county  superintend- 
ent of  schools  of  Rio  Grande  County,  has  the 
following  to  say  concerning  the  consolidations 
above  referred  to : 

....  The  valuations  in  the  consolidated  districts  are 
all  over  $3,000,000.  This  has  made  it  possible  to  get  enough 
money  to  run  a  good  school. 

I  have  found  that  there  is  no  organization  as  successful 
as  the  rural  consolidated  school  to  reach  the  farmers. 

2.   NORTH  DAKOTA 

Under  date  of  March  29,  1920,  the  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  says  in  a 
letter  to  the  author : 

For  twelve  years  I  was  County  Superintendent  of 
Barnes  County,  North  Dakota,  and  worked  directly  with 
the  rural  districts. 

I  can  testify  to  the  facts  that  the  Civic-Social  activities 
of  these  rural  neighborhoods  center  about  the  consolidated 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT    83 

school  and  I  only  wish  you  might  visit  some  of  them  to 
see  their  activity.  We  had  a  County  Lyceum  Course,  a 
County  Debating  League  and  a  County  Athletic  League. 

The  county  superintendent  of  schools  of 
McHenry  County,  North  Dakota,  writes  on 
April  5,  1920: 

About  two-thirds  of  the  children  in  the  county  are  now 
in  consolidated  schools.  There  are  no  towns  in  the  county 
that  have  over  1,000  inhabitants  so  that  this  means  that  it 
is  the  country  children  who  are  in  the  consolidated  schools. 
There  are  twenty-three  in  the  county,  four  of  which  are 
open-country  schools.  The  others  are  all  located  in  small 
villages  or  towns,  and  my  experience  has  been  that  the 
schools  located  in  the  towns  and  villages  are  the  most 
successful.  Some  of  the  main  reasons  for  this  are:  better 
roads  to  the  villages,  especially  during  winter;  better 
accommodations  for  teachers,  better  care  of  school  buildings 
and  property  during  vacations  and  easier  to  get  janitors. 

None  of  the  consolidated  districts  are  less  than  eighteen 
[square]  miles,  most  of  them  include  thirty-six  square  miles, 
and  we  have  a  few  that  embrace  as  much  territory  as  forty- 
five  square  miles.  Where  no  natural  obstacles  like  rivers 
or  waste  land  intervene,  the  township  of  thirty-six  square 
miles  seems  to  be  about  the  most  suitable  sized  district. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  consolidated  school  is  the 
natural  center  for  community  activities  and  in  all  my 
schools  some  work  along  these  lines  is  being  done.  Com- 
munity meetings,  lecture  courses,  entertainments,  political 
meetings,  Red  Cross  meetings,  are  some  of  the  various 
things  carried  on.  This  fact  was  not  realized  so  fully  when 
we  first  begun  consolidating  our  schools,  but  every  consoli- 
dated school  that  is  built  now  is  equipped  with  a  good 
auditorium  or  gathering  place. 


84       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Professor  Charles  G.  Carlson,  of  the  depart- 
ment of  agricultural  education  of  the  North 
Dakota  Agricultural  College,  writes  as  follows, 
under  date  of  April  12,  1920: 

Replying  to  your  letter  of  March  30th  relative  to  the 
proper  local  unit  upon  which  to  build  our  rural  organizations, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  the  "township"  is  the  unit  on  which 
such  work  must  rest.  Here  in  this  state  there  are  smaller 
units  than  the  township  and  even  larger  units  in  consolidated 
areas.  Considering  the  population,  the  amount  of  wealth 
and  the  ordinary  cohesion  within  townships  together  with 
the  fact  that  the  consolidated  school  is  usually  in  the 
center  or  section  sixteen,  I  can  not  see  how  any  other  unit 
has  more  advantages  than  the  township. 

In  the  case  of  the  Noltimier  district  where  I  spent  three 
years  as  principal,  I  found  that  buying,  selling,  school  work 
and  even  road-building  were  done  better  on  the  township 
basis  than  on  the  district  basis.  Our  townships  in  this 
state  average  possibly  two  hundred  and  ninety  people  in 
the  eastern  part,  but  have  often  not  more  than  fifteen  or 
twenty  in  the  western  part.  The  amount  of  wealth  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  state  is  large  enough  to  support  town- 
ship high  schools,  but  this  is  not  true  of  the  western  part  of 
the  state,  so  that  the  statements  made,  you  will  see,  apply 
only  to  the  eastern  half  of  the  state. 

Writing  again  on  May  6,  1920,  Professor 
Carlson  further  states : 

The  organizations  that  use  the  schoolhouse  for  their 
meetings  are  as  follows:  The  Society  of  Equity,  the  Non- 
partisan League  and  various  local  clubs  and  churches. 
All  elections  are  usually  held  in  the  consolidated  school. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     85 

3.      IOWA 

Professor  Macy  Campbell,  head  of  the  de- 
partment of  rural  education  of  Iowa  State 
Teachers'  College,  Cedar  Falls,  Iowa,  states 
in  a  letter  dated  April  5,  1920,  that 

Iowa  consolidated  schools  are  developed  around  natural 
community  centers,  quite  often  a  town  and  its  trade  terri- 
tory, and  pay  no  attention  to  township  or  county  lines. 
The  school  district  lines  are  often  followed  in  establishing 
the  boundaries  of  consolidated  school  districts. 

We  believe  every  rural  school  district  in  Iowa  is  so 
situated  that  it  can  be  satisfactorily  taken  into  a  consoli- 
dated school  organization;  this  has  already  been  done 
with  more  than  2,500  districts. 

On  March  9,  Professor  Campbell  wrote  that 
there  were  more  than  340  consolidated  schools 
in  Iowa.     He  further  states: 

The  tendency  in  Iowa  now  is  to  organize  consolidated 
districts  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  square  miles.  Improvement 
in  transportation  through  better  roads  and  better  motor 
vehicles  makes  the  fifty  square  mile  district  more  satis- 
factory as  a  unit  than  the  smaller  ones. 

The  well  developed  consolidated  school  becomes  the 
center  of  social  and  economic  life  in  the  community  and  is 
the  most  effective  force  in  Iowa  at  the  present  time  in  rural 
community  leadership  and  development.  I  have  detected 
no  tendency  so  far  in  this  state  to  make  the  consolidated 
school  district  the  political  unit. 

In  The  Iowa  Homestead,  published  at  Des 
Moines,    Iowa,   issue   of   February    26,    1920, 


86       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Professor  Campbell  discussed  "The  New  Rural 
School  in  Orange  Township,"  located  in  Butler 
County.  He  stated  in  part,  relative  to  this 
very  successful  consolidated  school: 

The  new  school  brings  all  the  children  of  the  community 
together  to  become  acquainted  with  each  other  and  learn 
to  work  together  more  successfully  in  a  co-operative  way 
in  developing  the  possibilities  of  the  community.  The 
success  of  the  remarkable  community  church,  the  co- 
operative egg  selling  association,  co-operative  creamery, 
co-operative  telephone  organization,  co-operative  cow  test- 
ing association,  co-operative  threshing  and  silo  filling 
associations  in  Orange  township  testifies  to  the  value  of 
such  community  co-operation. 

4.      ILLINOIS 

This  state  we  find  has  two  good  legislative 
enactments  of  recent  establishment  (19 19)  look- 
ing to  the  formation  of  schools  upon  the 
community  basis,  namely,  community  high 
schools  and  community  consolidated  district 
schools.  Township  high  schools  have  also  been 
in  operation  in  this  state,  there  being  some 
notable  outstanding  examples  from  the  com- 
munity point  of  view.  The  community  high 
schools  which  are  being  organized  under  the 
law  of  1 91 9  are  practically  the  same  kind  of 
school  as  are  the  township  high  schools. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     87 

County  Superintendent  B.  C.  Moore,  of 
McLean  County,  writing  April  29,  1920,  says 
of  these  districts  in  his  county: 

The  high-school  districts  are  large  and  over-lie  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  elementary  schools  districts.  All  of  these 
communities  are  looking  forward  to  community  and  civic 
life  in  their  new  building. 

A  community  consolidated  district  located 
near  Funk's  Grove,  Superintendent  Moore  says, 
is  very  prosperous.  It  embraces  27  sections  of 
land  and  leads  in  organized  life  in  the  way  of 
lectures,  entertainments,  programs  of  various 
kinds,  and  festivals. 

In  the  Bloomington,  Illinois,  Daily  Panta- 
graph  of  April  6,  1920,  Superintendent  Moore, 
in  an  article  on  township  and  community  high 
schools,  states: 

Township  and  community  high  schools  are  being 
organized  in  every  county  of  the  state.  In  addition  to 
the  school  facilities  that  will  come  to  these  communities 
it  is  believed  that  such  school  buildings  will  be  made  social 
and  library  centers. 

5.      OKLAHOMA 

E.  A.  Duke,  rural-school  supervisor,  states 
that  there  are  a  large  number  of  successful 
consolidated  schools  in  Oklahoma.  He  feels 
that  the  size  of  the  population  and  the  amount 
of  wealth  is  about  right  for  the  most  successful 


8>S       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

unit  in  a  district  of  36  square  miles.  In  his 
Report  on  Rural  Centralized  Graded  and  Model 
Schools,  issued  by  the  state  superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  in  1918,  Supervisor  Duke 
enumerates  twenty-two  advantages  of  the 
consolidated  school  to  the  community.  A  few 
of  them  are  as  follows : 

Consolidation  leads  to  better  roads,  better  homes, 
increased  land  values,  pride  in  community  and  civic  improve- 
ment. 

The  consolidated  school  becomes  the  community 
center  and  leads  to  improvement  through  lectures,  debates 
and  other  forms  of  entertainment. 

Leads  to  co-operation  along  all  lines. 

When  the  people  realize  that  they  are  providing  advan- 
tages for  their  children  equal  to  those  of  any  other  district, 
self  respect  and  respect  for  the  community  increases  many- 
fold. 

Has  a  broadening  influence  on  the  people,  as  they 
become  accustomed  to  thinking  in  terms  larger  than  the 
one-room  school. 

A  more  exhaustive  study  covering  the  con- 
solidated school  district  as  found  in  every 
state  in  the  Union  would  be  valuable.  There 
are  many  states  where  the  educators  in  charge 
of  the  movement  have  vision  and  foresight 
relative  to  the  community  value  of  the  district, 
and  are  embodying  this  in  their  plans  for 
consolidation.  This  matter  was  brought  out 
clearly   at   the   last   National   Conference   on 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     89 

School  Consolidation  which  was  held  at  Cedar 
Falls,  Iowa,  during  the  third  week  in  February, 
1920.  A  partial  report  of  this  conference  is 
found  in  The  Iowa  Homestead  of  February  26, 
1920,  from  which  the  following  quotation  is 
taken : 

Consolidated  schools  are  not  only  educational  centers, 
but  social  and  community  centers  as  well.  Consolidation  is 
a  form  of  organization  that  is  dovetailing  itself  into  the 
great  organized  farmer  movement  all  over  the  country  and 
we  cannot  afford  to  neglect  to  fairly  study  its  possibilities 
with  immediate  cost  as  of  secondary  importance. 

6.      SUMMARY 

Some  important  details  have  been  brought 
out  in  the  last  two  chapters  which  will  receive 
emphasis  and  summation  at  this  point. 

In  choosing  the  consolidated  school  district 
as  the  best  unit  of  rural  organization  of  general 
application,  there  are  a  number  of  rather 
specific  factors  which  should  be  clearly  kept 
in  mind  if  proper  values  are  to  come  from  it. 
The  first  of  these  is  that  provision  must  be 
made  for  a  good,  effective  high-school  depart- 
ment in  connection  with  the  consolidation.  No 
farm  boy  and  girl  nowadays  should  be  without 
the  opportunity  to  obtain  close  at  hand  as 
good   a   high-school   education   as   any   other 


90       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

boy  or  girl.  Arguments  pro  and  con  a  high- 
school  education  are  not  necessary  in  this 
study,  but  suffice  it  to  say  at  this  point  that 
farmers  themselves  are  becoming  fully  awake 
to  the  advantages  of  having  high-school  facili- 
ties for  their  children.  As  a  witness  to  this, 
we  found  in  our  study  in  chapter  vi  that 
sixteen  of  the  consolidated  districts  of  Randolph 
County,  Indiana,  have  provided  good  high- 
school  departments,  all  of  which  are  listed  as 
commissioned  high  schools  by  the  state  of 
Indiana.  We  also  saw  that  every  consolidated 
school  in  Marshall  County,  Iowa,  either  now 
has,  or  is  providing  for,  a  four-year  high-school 
department. 

Granted  that  the  consolidated  district  must 
support  a  good  high  school  as  well  as  the 
graded  departments,  the  next  important  fea- 
ture is  the  size  of  the  high  school  that  should 
be  considered  as  a  minimum  standard.  In  an 
endeavor  to  arrive  at  a  minimum  figure  in 
enrolment  below  which  a  high  school  should  not 
sink,  the  author  realizes  full  well  that  there 
will  be  exceptions.  These  need  not  blind  one, 
however,  to  the  generally  prevailing  facts.  A 
close  study  of  the  situation  shows  that  there 
are  vast  numbers  of  consolidations  which,  in 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT    91 

the  beginning,  were  not  projected  upon  a  large 
enough  basis,  and  that  these,  in  many  instances, 
after  the  first  flush  of  newness  and  novelty 
wore  off,  have  become  burdensome;  especially 
so  when  the  opportunities  were  not  at  hand  for 
enlarging  the  consolidated  area.  A  consoli- 
dated district  projected  on  too  small  a  basis 
does  not  give  sufficient  numbers  of  pupils  to 
maintain  a  first-class  high  school  and  does  not 
furnish  an  effective,  varied,  and  diversified 
community  life.  There  also  must  be  enough 
wealth  included  to  give  the  proper  financial 
support  to  local  institutions. 

The  enrolment  of  some  of  the  successful 
consolidated  schools  studied  in  these  two  chap- 
ters may  be  taken  as  a  clue  in  arriving  at  a 
minimum.  The  Melbourne  consolidated  dis- 
trict, which  is  a  very  successful  one  in  Marshall 
County,  Iowa,  has  a  high-school  enrolment  of 
sixty.  The  Orange  Township  consolidated 
school  reported  in  this  chapter  has  an  enrol- 
ment of  sixty-nine.  The  schools  in  Randolph 
County,  Indiana,  which  show  the  greatest  suc- 
cess, all  have  enrolments  of  sixty  and  above, 
and,  generally,  not  less  than  four  teachers 
in  high-school  work.  The  author,  out  of  his 
own  experience  as  a  high-school  teacher  and 


92        RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

principal,  has  been  thoroughly  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  an  enrolment  of  seventy-five  to 
one  hundred  furnishes  a  better  working  group 
than  one  below  seventy-five.  An  enrolment  of 
fifty  is  reaching  a  point  of  doubtful  efficiency, 
as  a  general  proposition.  As  a  minimum 
figure  to  be  held  in  mind  in  forming  a  con- 
solidated district  with  a  good  four-year  high- 
school  department,  sixty  pupils  will  insure 
greater  success  than  fifty. 

In  close  connection  with  the  minimum 
high-school  enrolment  comes  the  minimum  size 
of  district.  Many  of  the  states  studied  make 
no  recommendations  on  this  matter,  which  it 
seems  to  the  writer  is  a  mistake.  Some  low- 
water  mark  should  be  set  by  the  law  to  insure 
greater  stability  and  success  to  the  movement 
and  to  furnish  a  guidepost.  Some  states  have 
specified  a  minimum  size  of  district  as  well  as 
taxable  wealth,  and  then  generally  encourage 
consolidation  on  a  more  extensive  scale.  The 
Iowa  school  law  states  that  not  less  than  16 
sections  of  adjoining  land  shall  constitute  a 
consolidated  district;  but  we  note  in  Professor 
Macy  Campbell's  letter  of  March  9,  given  above, 
that  the  tendency  in  Iowa  is  to  organize  con- 
solidated districts  of  from  30  to  50  square  miles. 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT    93 

In  Oklahoma,  the  minimum  area  specified 
by  the  law  is  25  sections  of  contiguous  land  and 
a  taxable  valuation  of  $200,000.  An  exception 
is  made  in  case  of  taxable  valuations  of  $500,000 
or  over,  when  districts  of  less  than  25  square 
miles  may  be  formed.  E.  A.  Duke,  the  rural- 
school  inspector,  however,  in  his  correspondence 
and  reports  states  that  the  size  of  population 
and  the  amount  of  wealth  are  in  better  relation 
for  a  successful  district  with  a  land  area  of 
36  square  miles. 

In  North  Dakota,  the  minimum  size  of 
district  is  placed  at  18  sections  of  contiguous 
land.  Here  again  we  find  that  the  successful 
consolidations  embrace  about  36  or  more  square 
miles,  because  size  of  population  and  wealth 
are  more  satisfactory. 

In  Randolph  County,  Indiana,  we  find  a 
number  of  small  districts,  which  are,  even  with 
their  density  of  population,  on  the  border 
lines  of  efficiency.  Some  of  these  will  doubtless 
be  enlarged  by  further  consolidations  of  adjoin- 
ing territory  now  included  in  consolidated  grade 
areas.  A  study  of  Table  I,  page  61,  Tables 
III,  IV,  V,  and  VI,  pages  68,  68,  69,  and  70, 
respectively,  giving  density  of  population,  size 
of  areas,   social  and   economic   features,   and 


94       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

other  like  matters,  shows  that  such  districts  as 
Spartanburg,  Wayne,  Jackson,  Farmland,  and 
Lincoln,  with  a  density  of  population  ranging 
around  and  above  thirty-two  per  square  mile 
and  a  size  of  district  ranging  around  and  above 
30  square  miles,  give  the  greatest  diversity 
of  interests  and  of  activities.  The  larger  popula- 
tion in  these  districts  finds  more  to  arouse 
interest.  The  density  of  population  is  such  as 
to  promote  neighborly  feeling  and  commonness 
of  purpose.  Of  course,  such  districts  cannot 
be  held  as  models  in  the  case  of  a  sparsely 
settled  country  like  North  Dakota,  but  they 
show  rather  valuable  features  for  a  moderately 
settled,  general-farming  region. 

In  Marshall  County,  Iowa,  the  smaller 
districts  ranging  around  12  and  14  square 
miles  were  formed  under  an  old  law.  Informa- 
tion given  the  author  was  that  some  of  these 
will  be  enlarged  by  additions  of  unconsolidated 
territory  and  others  may  be  split  up  to  form 
larger  districts. 

The  size  of  the  district  and  its  population 
and  the  amount  of  wealth  will  be  variable 
matters  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The 
figures  here  given  point  to  what  seem  to  be 
the  tendencies  in  these  factors.     Whatever  the 


THE  CONSOLIDATED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT     95 

location  of  the  district,  its  size,  its  wealth,  and 
the  amount  of  its  population  should  be  enough 
to  maintain  a  first-class  four-year  high  school 
and  a  graded  school,  the  former  having  a  mini- 
mum enrolment  of  about  sixty  pupils.  When 
this  requirement  is  met,  a  really  effective 
socio-economic  unit  will  have  been  formed, 
which  will  give  volume  of  population  enough, 
sufficient  diversity  of  interests,  and  wealth 
enough  to  provide  most  of  the  institutions  and 
interests  of  the  farm  groups. 

One  last  important  factor,  often  mentioned 
in  the  foregoing  chapters,  which  must  not  be 
lost  sight  of  in  the  carving  out  of  consolidated 
districts,  is  the  attainment  of  proper  cohesion 
and  social  relationship  within  the  newly  formed 
district.  This  is  a  subtle  matter  difficult  to 
meet  and  yet  of  prime  importance.  This 
feature,  as  often  pointed  out,  has  all  too 
frequently  been  disregarded,  or  militated 
against,  especially  in  the  formation  of  rubber- 
stamped  areas,  like  the  township  and  many 
small  school  district  systems.  Great  care  must 
be  exercised  in  the  placing  of  consolidated 
school  district  lines  to  see  that  they  throw 
together  groups  which  want  to  be  and  should 
be  together. 


96       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

This  cohesion  will  find  expression  in  various 
ways.  The  historical  development  of  the 
area  or  community  may  play  a  big  part  in 
determining  what  groups  cling  to  one  another 
and  work  for  their  common  interests.  Some- 
times kindred  ties  extending  over  an  appreciable 
territory  will  help  in  determining  cohesive 
groups.  Sometimes  trade  relations  at  a  com- 
mon center  have  built  up  an  acquaintanceship 
and  fellow-feeling  which  can  be  definitely  out- 
lined and  followed  as  a  guide  in  placing  a  con- 
solidated district. 

Topographical  features  have  often  caused 
certain  areas  to  be  very  definitely  marked  out 
and  these  frequently  have  been  real,  effective 
communities. 

In  the  construction  of  this  new  socio- 
economic unit  (the  consolidated  school  district), 
therefore,  all  these  factors  should  be  used  as 
guides,  to  be  supplemented  by  the  free  choice 
of  the  people  themselves  as  exercised  by  the 
ballot. 

Facilities  for  intercourse,  condition  of  roads, 
density  of  population,  are  all  factors  aiding 
or  retarding  cohesion  and  playing  a  great 
part  in  the  regulation  of  the  size  of  the  district. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ORGANIZATION  OF  FORCES  AND 

METHODS  OF  ORGANIZATION 

WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT 

In  our  study  of  the  local  unit  we  found 
many  forces  and  agencies  at  work  in  rural  life. 
They  seemed,  in  some  cases,  to  be  developing 
around  certain  plans  or  in  accordance  with 
certain  policies.  In  other  cases  there  did  not 
appear  to  be  any  plans  or  any  policies,  just 
forces  and  institutions,  developing  or  existing 
in  their  own  individualistic  manner.  We  have 
seen  also  that,  in  rural  communities,  there  are 
latent  forces,  awaiting  development  and  the 
life-giving  power  of  organization  and  leadership. 

Some  of  the  forces  and  institutions  that 
have  been  met  may  be  mentioned  here  as  fol- 
lows: churches,  granges,  farm-bureau  organiza- 
tions, home-economics  associations,  schools,  co- 
operative organizations,  fairs,  clubs,  institutes, 
parent-teachers'  associations,  and  neighborhood 
and  community  consciousness.  The  organiza- 
tion of  these  and  others  which  helps  give  expres- 
sion to  rural  life,  and  fitting  them,  one  with 

97 


98       RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

another,  into  a  general  scheme  of  things  for  the 
complete  development  of  the  community  in  the 
interests  of  the  common  welfare,  is  the  problem 
of  next  importance. 

This  phase  of  our  study,  like  that  of  the  de- 
termination of  the  local  unit,  is  still  in  its  infancy 
throughout  the  country.  Only  rather  general 
deductions  can  be  made  here,  but  these  will  be 
drawn  as  closely  as  possible  from  good  sources. 

There  are  several  groups  and  individuals 
working  out,  in  their  own  manner,  systems  and 
plans  for  rural  organization.  Politicians,  econo- 
mists, and  social  workers  are  all  seeking  a 
workable  plan.  The  Farm  Bureau  is  endeavor- 
ing to  find  the  best  organization,  as  well  as  the 
best  local  unit  of  rural  life,  upon  which  to  base 
its  great  work  which  pertains,  in  the  main,  to 
production  and  marketing.  The  Home  Bureau 
is  an  expression  of  the  organization  of  farm 
women  along  similar  lines.  The  American  Red 
Cross  is  another  agency  trying  to  work  out  the 
organization  of  rural  life,  especially  along  the 
physical  and  health  side.  The  National  Con- 
ference of  Social  Work  is  trying  to  find  itself  in 
a  program  of  organization  of  rural  social  forces. 
A  plan  has  been  outlined  by  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural    College    of   forming   in   a    rural 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    99 

community  a  council  of  all  the  agencies  working 
for  rural  life.  In  North  Carolina  we  have  a 
quite  different  plan  (referred  to  in  chap,  v, 
pp.  56  and  57,  and  in  Appendix  A),  which  is 
interested  in  overhauling  county  government  in 
the  interests  of  both  economic  and  social  agen- 
cies for  the  benefit  of  the  farm  population. 

A  complete  study  of  each  one  of  these  plans, 
were  it  possible,  would  be  valuable  at  this 
point.  We  shall  attempt  here  to  bring  together 
some  of  the  main  features  only  of  the  sugges- 
tions of  leaders  along  these  lines  and  discuss 
them  in  the  light  of  the  general  conclusions 
which  have  been  reached. 

That  no  one  plan  of  organization  will  suit 
all  communities  alike  is  a  commonplace.  Flexi- 
bility must  be  allowed  in  any  scheme  so  that  it 
may  fit  local  variations.  That  there  must  be 
a  need  for  organization  before  it  will  succeed 
is  also  a  commonplace.  Such  a  thing  cannot 
be  forced  upon  a  people,  but  must  await 
proper  growth  in  powers  to  appreciate.  The 
idea  of  community  organization,  also,  as  a 
general  proposition,  is  a  new  idea  in  most  rural 
communities.  The  communities  must  first  be 
convinced  that  it  is  needed  and  that  it  will 
accomplish  what  the  community  desires. 


ioo     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 
Professor  T.  N.  Carver  says : 

Not  only  must  there  be  a  distinct  need  for  organization, 
but  each  committee  should  be  constructed  to  deal  with 
one  specific  need.  The  first  thing  to  decide,  therefore,  is 
what  are  the  principal  needs  of  the  community  in  question 
in  order  that  the  proper  committee  may  be  constituted.1 

He  reaches  the  conclusion  that  there  are  ten 
principal  or  leading  needs  in  the  average  rural 
community  in  the  United  States.  He  divides 
them  into  two  groups,  namely,  business  and 
social,  placing  rive  needs  in  each  group.  The 
ten  needs  are  represented  by  separate  commit- 
tees from  the  community.  A  central  committee 
is  formed  by  the  chairmen  of  the  subcommittees 
(each  of  the  ten)  and  officers  of  the  organization, 
who  represent  the  entire  number,  and  who  act 
for  the  community  at  large,  in  the  way  of 
shaping  policies  and  the  control  of  business 
affairs  of  the  organization.  The  following  is 
Professor  Carver's  outline: 

NEEDS  OF  RURAL  COMMUNITIES  WHICH  REQUIRE 
ORGANIZATION 

I.  Business  Needs: 

i.  Better  farm  production 
2.  Better  marketing  facilities 

1  T.  N.  Carver,  The  Organization  of  a  Rural  Community,  p.  4. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  Yearbook,  separate. 
(Washington,  D.C.:  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
I9I5-) 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    101 

3.  Better  means  of  securing  farm  supplies 

4.  Better  credit  facilities 

5.  Better  means  of  communication: 

a)  Roads 

b)  Telephones 
II.  Social  Needs: 

1.  Better  educational  facilities 

2.  Better  sanitation 

3.  Better  opportunities  for  recreation 

4.  Beautification  of  the  country-side 

5.  Better  home  economics 

After  outlining  in  the  foregoing  way  what  the 
author  conceives  to  be  of  application  to  the 
average  community,  he  goes  into  considerable 
detail  in  a  discussion  of  duties,  aims,  and 
functions  of  the  various  communities.1 

In  the  main,  this  is  a  good  plan;  it  is  broad 
and  can  be  made  to  cover  a  wide  range.  There 
are  many  valuable  suggestions  contained  in  it. 
The  most  serious  trouble  to  be  met  in  placing 
such  a  plan  in  the  average  community,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  found  in  the  great  dearth  of  proper 
leadership  to  execute  it.  The  plan  is  also  defi- 
cient in  necessary  machinery,  and  the  com- 
mittees may  find  no  dynamic  action  following 
their  well-laid  recommendations.  It  does  not 
represent  or  include  organizations  which  might 
well  play  a  large  part  in  molding  action. 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  11-53. 


102     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

The  Massachusetts  plan  of  a  council  of  the 
forces  working  in  a  community  is  quite  a 
different  scheme  from  the  foregoing.  It  seeks 
to  pull  together  all  the  organizations  and  forces 
through  a  general  council.  This  is  a  compre- 
hensive plan  and  will  be  given  here  only  in  part 
as  follows: 

i.  Conference  of  a  Few.  [This  is  a  general  or  preliminary 
get-together  by  representatives  of  each  local  organiza- 
tion to  consider  what  can  be  done.] 

2.  Organization  Representatives.  [Here  is  a  council  which 
represents  the  co-ordination  of  all  local  interests  for 
initial  action.] 

3.  The  First  Work. 

a)  Bring  about  a  thorough  understanding  among  the 
various  local  organizations  as  to  just  what  each  is 
doing 

b)  Take  up  any  specific  items  of  community  interest 
which  should  receive  immediate  attention. 

c)  Call  in  representatives  of  county  organizations  and 
ascertain  in  what  work  they  are  prepared  to  co- 
operate in  for  your  town. 

4.  The  First  Community  Meeting.  [Elect  chairman  and 
secretary  and  discuss  improvements  needed.] 

5.  Committees.  [Appointed  if  action  in  foregoing  dis- 
cussion is  favorable  and  may  be  as  follows:] 

a)  Farm  production. 

b)  Farm  business. 

c)  Conservation. 

d)  Boys'  and  girls'  interests. 

e)  Community  life. 

6.  The  Second  Community  Meeting.  [It  will  be  an  unoffi- 
cial community  gathering  to  give  anyone  a  chance  to 
object  or  to  offer  plans.] 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    103 

7.  Community  Plan  or  Program. 

8.  Getting  Results. 

9.  Council  Meetings. 

10.  The  Annual  Community  Meeting: 

a)  Reports  should  be  made  of  work  done  by  any  organi- 
zation or  group  during  the  past  year. 

b)  The  council  committees  should  report  the  working 
plans  for  the  coming  year. 

c)  The  chairman,  secretary,  and  committees  for  the 
ensuing  year  should  be  chosen.1 

The  chief  criticism  that  can  be  offered  con- 
cerning this  plan  is  its  great  range.  It  is  too 
broad  to  fit  most  communities.  It  would  be 
better  to  concentrate  on  one  or  two  projects 
in  which  the  community  is  interested  and  gradu- 
ally work  up  to  a  complete  organization,  a  thing 
which  will  take  time  and  education.  A  plan 
too  broad  in  its  scope  is  likely  to  result  in  a 
great  many  things  started  and  dropped,  or  only 
developed  to  mediocrity. 

There  are  other  proposals  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  community  which  are  not  as  compre- 
hensive or  complete  as  the  foregoing.  Judge 
Frank  T.  Wilson  presents  a  plan  in  a  University 
of  Minnesota  bulletin,  entitled  Community 
Service.  He  shows  how  a  community  may  be 
organized  on  lines  similar  to  those  followed  by 

1  E.  L.  Morgan,  Mobilizing  the  Rural  Community,  Massachu- 
setts Agricultural  College  Extension  Bulletin  No.  23,  pp.  20-25. 
(Amherst,  Mass.:  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  19 18.) 


104     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

boys  in  organizing  a  ball  club.1     First  by  getting 

together  a  few  fans,  then  a  selection  of  players 

or  team-leaders  for  each  interest  as  the  boys 

select  catcher,  pitcher,  back  stop,  and  other 

players.     He  states  that  "of  course  there  will 

be  provided  a  captain  and  a  board  of  managers." 

In  discussing  another  plan,  he  says : 

....  Invite  each  church,  lodge,  club,  society  or  like 
organization  to  furnish  a  delegate  to  a  community  council. 
Let  the  council  select  the  service  leader,  a  managing  board, 
and  the  various  team  leaders.     Then  get  busy  and  serve. 

All  these  schemes  for  the  organization  of  the 
forces  and  institutions  within  a  community 
have  much  to  recommend  them.  They  assume, 
however,  a  rather  well-developed  organization 
spirit  and  more  leadership  than  is  generally 
found  in  the  average  community.  In  many 
rural  sections  of  the  country  we  may  find  some 
rather  worthy  organizations,  but  a  great  ina- 
bility in  the  co-ordination  of  their  efforts  and 
work  toward  a  common  goal.  Again,  we  may 
find  a  total  inability  on  the  part  of  the  people 
to  form  any  worth-while  organizations,  because 
of  lack  of  leadership  and  the  proper  conception 
of  ideals  in  community  life. 

1  Frank  T.  Wilson,  Community  Service,  pp.  7,  8.  (Minne- 
apolis, Minn.:  The  University  of  Minnesota  Extension  Service, 
1920.) 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    105 

Inasmuch  as  the  findings  of  this  investiga- 
tion have  singled  out  the  consolidated  school 
district  as  the  best  unit  of  population,  territory, 
wealth,  and  the  like  upon  which  to  place  rural 
organization  plans,  if  becomes  very  evident 
that  there  is  no  better  place  to  commence  the 
formation  of  organized  life  and  the  co-ordination 
of  the  forces  of  that  life  than  with  the  con- 
solidated school  itself.  If  the  community  is 
adverse  to  organized  effort  (as  many  communi- 
ties are),  then  we  have  at  first  hand  the  best  of 
tools,  in  the  school  and  its  officers,  to  teach  the 
community  ideals  and  aims  and  to  develop 
policies  and  goals.  If  the  community  is  pro- 
gressive, all  well  and  good,  its  progress  will  be 
accelerated  by  the  aid  and  influence  of  the 
school.  No  other  institution  reaches  the  lives 
of  all  in  a  community  as  effectively  as  the 
school.  There  is  no  other  institution  around 
which  all  will  rally  more  quickly,  because  it 
stands  as  their  one  common  institution,  main- 
tained and  supported  by  the  whole  people. 
The  common  support  of  a  consolidated  school 
has  in  countless  cases  been  the  one  means 
of  uniting  the  small  town  and  the  country 
community  adjacent.  The  writer  had  this 
fact  very  strongly  pointed  out  to  him  in  the 


106     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

investigation  of  the  Melbourne  consolidated 
school  district  in  Marshall  County,  Iowa.  Mr. 
N.  B.  Nason,  president  of  the  school  board  and  a 
retired  farmer,  stated  that,  before  consolidation, 
the  people  of  Melbourne  town  and  the  country 
people  were  more  or  less  estranged,  often 
unfriendly,  and  were  non-co-operative.  Since 
consolidation,  with  the  new  school  built  within 
the  town  limits  and  the  old  town  school  merged 
with  the  consolidated  one,  a  most  surprising 
co-operative  spirit  has  developed.  He  stated 
that  many  town  and  country  women  get 
acquainted  at  the  school,  either  in  visits  during 
regular  sessions,  or  at  festivals  and  dinners. 
The  town  merchants  all  have  acquired  a  sense 
of  their  partnership  with  the  farmer.  The 
farmer  to  the  farthermost  corner  of  the  district 
feels  his  allegiance  to  the  school,  community, 
and  town.  Mr.  Nason  said  the  townspeople  do 
not  think  about  having  a  town  boundary,  they 
think  in  terms  of  the  school  district. 

The  very  fact  that  the  people  of  a  commu- 
nity have  got  together  successfully  enough  to 
build  and  equip  a  consolidated  school  also  gives 
them  confidence  in  themselves  and  in  their 
ability  to  do  things.  Great  is  the  pride  that 
many  communities  take  in  their  consolidated 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    107 

school  and  its  system  of  education.  At  this 
point  in  community  consciousness,  which  often- 
times is  the  first  glimpse  a  community  gets  of 
itself,  is  where  real  organization  plans  may  be 
initiated,  and  where  constructive  policies  and 
ideals  may  be  laid.  Here  an  excellent  frame- 
work has  been  erected  which  connects  the  com- 
munity with  every  other  community  and  with 
the  state  and  nation  at  large.  An  organization 
of  first  rank  has  been  created  around  which  all 
can  gather,  regardless  of  church,  lodge,  grange, 
society,  or  other  affiliations.  In  the  common 
moral  and  financial  support  of  the  consolidated 
school,  therefore,  we  have  our  first  commu- 
nity organization  and  our  chief  agency  for  co- 
ordination of  agencies,  forces,  and  institutions. 

Plays,  athletic  games,  and  luncheons  held 
at  the  school  will  draw  the  community  together 
in  an  informal  way,  produce  acquaintanceship 
extending  throughout  the  district,  and  will 
arouse  a  community  pride. 

The  spirit  of  team  work  grows  up,  co- 
operation between  individuals  and  groups 
develops,  all  in  a  most  informal  way,  but  all 
of  which,  by  proper  direction  and  guidance, 
will  lead  to  more  formal  relationships  and  more 
significant  lines  of  endeavor. 


108     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

For  laying  and  developing  plans  for  the  com- 
munity, the  consolidated  school  board  members, 
the  principal  of  the  school,  the  county  demon- 
stration agents,  and  the  county  superintendent 
of  schools  are  all  properly  authorized  parties 
and  should  co-operate  in  such  work.  The 
school  board  members  and  the  principal  are 
pivotal  in  this,  and  proper  public  opinion  will 
demand  that  such  positions  be  filled  by  people 
who  have  the  newer  vision  in  school  affairs. 
The  selection  of  men  and  women  for  these 
capacities  should  be  made  carefully,  and  that 
such  is  the  case  in  many  consolidated  districts 
is  evidenced  by  their  rapid  growth  and  out- 
standing community  consciousness. 

There  is  no  good  reason  why  the  consolidated 
school  should  not  help  foster  and  develop  the 
farmers'  institute;  both  school  and  institute 
are  educational  and  social  in  character.  The 
boys'  and  girls'  club  work  may  also  develop 
in  the  school.  The  agricultural  agent  and  home 
demonstration  agent  work  can  most  effectively 
spread  out  through  the  school  into  the  homes  and 
on  to  the  farms;  the  school  may  well  be  head- 
quarters in  the  community  for  these  agencies. 
The  public  library  may  also  be  under  the  charge 
of  the  school.   Organized  play  for  the  community 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    109 

in  the  form  of  pageants,  various  games,  picture 
shows,  and  athletic  contests  will  find  able  leader- 
ship in  the  school. 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  interesting  to 
review  in  brief  some  of  the  work  of  the  State 
Community  Service  Bureau  of  North  Carolina. 
This  bureau  works  with  and  through  both  large 
and  small  rural  schools.  Its  various  activities 
illustrate  what  can  be  done  for  the  community 
and  neighborhood  life  with  the  school  as  the 
agency,  co-ordinating  state,  county,  and  local 
agencies.  The  consolidated  school,  by  reason 
of  its  greater  size  and  diversity  of  interests,  will 
be  able  to  make  much  more  of  this  outside  help 
than  will  the  small  one-room  school. 

A.  E.  Howell,  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare of  Wayne  County,  North  Carolina,  in  a 
report  just  issued  dealing  with  the  Community 
Service  Bureau  in  that  county,  states: 

In  each  county  where  the  service  is  operative,  the 
State  Bureau  places  an  automobile  truck  with  a  portable 
electric  lighting  system  and  moving  picture  machine.  A 
woman  director  and  a  mechanic  are  employed  and  ten 
school  centers  are  selected  to  constitute  the  circuit  or  field 
of  activities  in  the  county.  Each  of  these  centers  is 
visited  by  the  outfit  once  every  two  weeks.  The  director 
arrives  at  the  school  before  the  children  are  dismissed 
(when  school  is  in  session)  and  conducts  games,  athletics, 


no     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

story-telling,  and  other  recreational  and  educational  activi- 
ties. Clubs  for  women,  boys  and  girls  are  organized,  and 
any  possible  service  for  the  advancement  of  the  community 
is  rendered  by  the  director  and  mechanic.  Often,  between 
school  sessions  (in  the  summer  time),  recreational  and 
educational  activities  are  promoted  in  the  afternoon  for 
children  and  adults. 

In  the  evening  a  moving  picture  entertainment,  usually 
consisting  of  six  reels,  is  given  to  the  general  community 
meeting.  At  this  meeting  the  county  agents,  such  as  the 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  Superintendent  of  Public  Wel- 
fare, Health  Officer,  Home  Demonstrator,  Farm  Demon- 
strator or  other  invited  speakers  help  the  community  with 
community  betterment  organization,  recreational  activities 
or  educational  features.  As  a  result  the  school  in  many 
localities  is  rapidly  becoming  the  center  of  social  and 
community  life. 

In  considering  the  success  of  this  new  move- 
ment in  North  Carolina,  Mr.  Howell  further 
states : 

The  first  county  circuit  was  organized  in  191 7  in 
Sampson  County.  Six  counties  were  organized  the  first 
year  in  spite  of  war  conditions.  Now  there  are  seventeen 
counties  operating  regularly,  and  many  have  made  applica- 
tion. For  lack  of  funds  these  latter  counties  cannot  now 
be  given  the  service. 

In  some  of  the  most  aggressive  communities 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  we  find  many  of 
the  things  which  are  given  by  state  and  county 
help  in  North  Carolina  being  taken  over  by 
the  consolidated  school  systems.     In  McHenry 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    1 1 1 

County,  Illinois,  a  decided  drift  in  such  direc- 
tion is  shown.  Here  we  find  ten  community 
schools:  one  a  consolidated  school  composed  of 
nine  small  one-room  school  districts,  and  nine 
community  high  schools.  The  latter  have 
districts  ranging  from  36  to  48  square  miles  in 
size.  The  county  superintendent  states  that 
these  school  districts  divide  the  county  into 
natural  communities.  Relative  to  the  work  of 
the  schools  in  community  activities,  he  writes 
under  date  of  April  30,  1920,  as  follows: 

I  believe  that  the  community  high  school  will  ultimately 
absorb  the  county  Y.M.C.A.,  athletic  work,  etc.,  that  is 
now  attempted  by  one  man  in  the  county,  that  is,  rural  or 
semi-rural  work.  In  like  manner  it  may  absorb  even  the 
better  farming  movement  through  the  community  high 
school  agricultural  teacher;  the  county  domestic  science 
movement  also. 

The  consolidated  school  organization,  there- 
fore, furnishes  the  machinery  or  framework 
upon  which  to  erect  the  first  rural  organization 
plans.  It  may,  in  fact,  be  thought  of  as  a  type 
of  local  government  for  the  farmer  based  upon 
his  community.  It  is  limited,  perhaps,  in  its 
scope,  but  nevertheless  it  is  a  government  with 
specific  aims  and  duties.  As  far  as  its  powers 
go  in  school  and  educational  affairs,  it  is  a 
highly  effective  form. 


112     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

As  community  development  takes  place, 
leading  to  the  need  of  more  powers  in  the  hands 
of  the  local  community,  the  limitations  of  the 
consolidated  school  organization  as  a  govern- 
mental agency  may  be  enlarged  by  legislative 
enactment,  as  far  as  such  changes  do  not 
encroach  upon  the  constitutional  authority 
already  granted  to  previously  existing  units 
such  as  civil  townships  and  magisterial  districts. 
In  these  latter  cases,  we  find,  tightly  knotted 
into  many  of  our  state  constitutions,  certain 
governmental  powers  which  are  hard  to  break 
out  and  redistribute,  even  though  it  has  been 
plainly  proved  that  such  units  are  misfits  and 
ill  adapted  to  the  social  groupings  of  the  people. 

Given  the  consolidated  school  district  and 
an  expansion  of  its  functions  up  to  the  limits 
allowed  by  constitutional  provisions  to  other 
conflicting  units,  the  farmer,  it  will  be  found, 
will  have  a  most  useful  legalized  community. 
The  articulation  of  district  with  district 
throughout  the  county  and  state  will  furnish 
the  avenues  necessary  to  connect  the  farmer 
with  wide  governmental,  social,  and  educational 
contact  with  the  nation  at  large.  A  more 
comprehensive  system  of  rural  local  government 
must  await  the  more  advanced  development  of 


ORGANIZATION  WITHIN  THE  LOCAL  UNIT    1 1 3 

public  opinion  relative  to  the  need  of  same,  and 
systematic  studies  in  political  science  bearing 
directly  upon  the  problem. 

This  discussion  of  the  growing  and  enlarging 
influence  and  powers  of  the  consolidated  school 
organization  is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning 
that  the  school  organization  as  such  is  to  absorb 
or  even  dwarf  such  institutions  as  the  church, 
grange,  or  lodge,  but  quite  the  contrary.  It 
simply  means  that  through  the  school  organiza- 
tion as  a  piece  of  local  machinery  owned  and 
controlled  by  one  and  all  in  the  community,  we 
have  a  permanent,  universal  force,  which  is  to 
be  utilized  in  helping  co-ordinate  the  work  and 
aims  of  the  other  institutions  of  less  universality. 
It  is  the  one  institution  which  may  take  the 
leading  role  in  shaping  plans  and  policies  to 
fit  the  community  and  to  co-ordinate  it  with 
the  county,  state,  and  nation.  Upon  the  basis 
of  the  consolidated  school  district  as  a  unit  of 
organization,  which  can  well  cover  every  part  of 
the  farm  population,  the  farmer  may  easily  find 
himself  and  identify  his  relationships  to  every 
other  group  in  the  state  and  country  at  large. 
The  farmer's  changing  psychology,  his  enlarged 
outlook,  and  his  new  local  unit  will  all  have  a 
logical  consistency  one  with  another. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Butterfield,   Kenyon  L.     Chapters  in  Rural  Progress. 

Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1907. 
.     Introduction    to    Extension    Bulletin    No.     23, 

Mobilizing  the  Rural  Community.     Extension  Bulletin 

No.    23,  Amherst,  Mass.:  Massachusetts  Agricultural 

College,  191 8. 
.     The  Farmer  and  the  New  Day.     New  York:  The 


Macmillan  Company,  1919. 

Carver,  T.  N.  The  Organization  of  a  Rural  Community. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  Yearbook; 
separate.  Washington,  D.C.:  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  1915. 

Fairlie,  John  A.  Local  Government  in  Counties,  Towns  and 
Villages.     New  York:    The  Century  Company,  1914. 

Galpin,  Charles  J.  Rural  Life.  New  York:  The 
Century  Company,  1918. 

.     The  Village  in  Relation  to  the  Surrounding  Country. 

A  paper  read  before  a  conference  on  the  village  and  the 
town  school  of  the  National  Education  Association, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  February  26,  1920. 

Morgan,  E.  L.  Mobilizing  the  Rural  Community.  Exten- 
sion Bulletin  No.  23.  Amherst,  Mass.:  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College,  1918. 

Vogt,  Paul  L.  Introduction  to  Rural  Sociology.  New 
York:  D.  Appleton  and  Company,  191 7. 

Wilson,  Frank  T.  Community  Service.  Minneapolis, 
Minn.:  The  University  of  Minnesota  Extension 
Service,  1920. 

Wilson,  Warren  H.  The  Evolution  of  the  Country  Com- 
munity.   Boston,  Mass.:  The  Pilgrim  Press,  191 2. 

114 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  115 

DOCUMENTS 

Consolidation  of  Schools  and  Transportation  of  Pupils. 
Bulletin  No.  56,  Department  of  Education,  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. 

Proceedings,  First  National  Country  Life  Conference,  Balti- 
more. Ithaca,  N.Y.:  National  Country  Life  Associa- 
tion, 1919. 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  Country  Life.  New  York: 
Sturgis  and  Walton  Company,  1919. 


APPENDIX  A 

(Public  Laws  191 9) 

AN  ACT  TO  REPEAL  CHAPTER  128  OF  THE 
PUBLIC  LAWS  OF  1917,  AND  TO  PROVIDE 
FOR  THE  INCORPORATION  OF  RURAL  COM- 
MUNITIES 

The  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  do  enact: 

Section  i.  That  the  people  of  any  rural  community  in 
North  Carolina,  upon  petition  signed  by  a  majority  of  the 
registered  voters  of  such  community,  embracing  in  area  one 
entire  school  district,  may  be  incorporated  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act,  the  title  of  such  corporate  body  being 

"The Community 

of County"  (or   counties),  the  name 

of  community  and  county  (or  counties)  to  be  supplied  in 
the  petition  for  incorporation:  Provided,  that  no  part  of 
such  community  shall  be  nearer  than  two  miles  to  the 
nearest  boundary  of  any  incorporated  town  or  city  of  five 
thousand  or  more  inhabitants,  and  nothing  in  this  chapter 
shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the  extension  of  the  limits  of 
any  town  or  city  regularly  incorporated  so  as  to  include 
territory  incorporated  under  this  act.  After  any  school 
district  has  been  incorporated  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  the  boundaries  of  said  school  district  and  incorporated 
rural  community  may  be  changed  only  in  the  manner 
prescribed  in  section  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifteen, 
Revisal  of  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  five,  for  changing 
the  lines  of  a  special-tax  school  district,  except  that  the 
county  board  of  education  shall  proceed  to  enlarge  such 
boundaries  in  accordance  with  said  section  upon  the  written 

116 


APPENDIX  A  117 

request  of  a  majority  of  the  school  committeemen  or 
trustees  of  said  school  district  and  a  written  request  of  a 
majority  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  incorporated  rural 
community. 

Sec.  2.  The  petition  for  incorporation  shall  be  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  his  office  in  Raleigh,  who,  if  such 
petition  is  in  due  form,  shall  then  issue  the  certificate  of 
incorporation  without  charge  therefor. 

Sec.  3.  The  registered  voters  of  each  community  incor- 
porated under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  hold  a  public 
community  meeting  on  the  first  Saturday  in  January  of 
each  year,  or  on  such  other  day  as  may  be  specified  in  the 
petition  for  incorporation.  The  place  of  such  meeting 
shall  also  be  designated  in  the  petition  for  incorporation, 
but  the  time  or  place,  or  both,  may  be  changed  at  any  annual 
meeting  to  take  effect  at  the  following  annual  meeting, 
notice  of  such  change  to  be  posted  in  three  public  places  in 
such  community.  At  such  annual  community  meeting 
the  voters  may  adjourn  to  meet  at  some  other  specified 
date,  and  other  meetings  may  be  held  upon  petition  signed 
by  ten  per  cent  of  the  registered  voters  of  the  community, 
provided  notice  of  such  meeting  is  posted  at  three  public 
places  in  such  community  at  least  two  weeks  prior  to  such 
meeting.  Questions  involving  the  levy  of  any  tax,  however, 
shall  be  decided  only  at  the  regular  annual  community 
meeting. 

Sec.  4.  At  each  annual  community  meeting,  as  pro- 
vided in  section  three  of  this  act,  the  voters  shall  elect 
three  persons  to  be  known  as  the  "Board  of  Directors 

of Community,"  one  of  whom  shall 

be  designated  as  chairman  and  another  as  secretary- 
treasurer,  each  performing  the  duties  suggested  by  his  title. 

Sec.  5.  The  said  board  of  directors  of  such  community 
shall  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  enforcing  and  executing 


n8     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

such  ordinances  as  the  community  meetings  may  adopt, 
and  performing  such  other  functions  not  inconsistent  with 
the  laws  of  North  Carolina  or  the  United  States  as  the 
community  meetings  may  direct.  The  annual  compensa- 
tion, if  any,  of  such  board  of  directors,  or  any  member 
thereof,  shall  be  fixed  at  each  annual  meeting. 

Sec.  6.  At  each  meeting  of  the  registered  voters  of  a 
community  they  shall  have  the  right  to  adopt,  amend,  or 
repeal  ordinances,  provided  such  action  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  laws  of  North  Carolina  or  the  United  States,  con- 
cerning the  following  subjects:  the  public  roads  of  the 
community;  the  public  schools  of  the  community;  regula- 
tions intended  to  promote  the  public  health;  the  police 
protection;  the  abatement  of  nuisances;  the  care  of  paupers, 
aged  or  infirm  persons;  to  encourage  the  coming  of  new 
settlers;  the  regulation  of  vagrancy;  aids  to  the  enforce- 
ment of  State  and  National  laws;  the  collection  of  com- 
munity taxes;  the  establishment  and  support  of  public 
libraries,  parks,  halls,  playgrounds,  fairs,  arid  other  agencies 
of  recreation,  education,  health,  music,  art,  and  morals: 
Provided,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed 
to  mean  that  any  community  incorporated  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act  shall  lose  its  identity  as  a  part  of  the 
road  and  school  systems  of  the  county  or  counties  in  which 
it  is  located,  nor  lose  its  right  to  participate  the  same  as 
before  incorporation  in  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
county  or  township  funds  raised  by  taxation  or  otherwise 
for  building  or  maintaining  the  public  roads,  for  the  public 
schools,  for  public  health,  or  for  other  public  uses. 

Sec.  7.  That  for  the  promotion  of  any  of  the  objects 
mentioned  in  section  six  of  this  act  the  registered  voters 
of  any  incorporated  community,  in  annual  community 
meeting  assembled,  shall  have  the  right  to  levy  taxes  or 
issue  bonds  upon  the  property  of  the  community,  within 


APPENDIX  A  119 

limits  hereinafter  set  forth,  either  for  specific  purposes  or  for 
the  general  use  of  the  community  upon  a  method  of  tax 
division  among  varying  objects  as  agreed  upon  by  such 
annual  community  meeting:  Provided,  that  the  aggregate 
of  taxes  levied  for  such  community  purposes  shall  not 
exceed  five  mills  annually  on  each  dollar  of  taxable  property: 
Provided,  that  the  aggregate  amount  of  the  bonds  issued 
shall  at  no  time  exceed  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  property 
valuation  of  the  community:  Provided,  that  any  tax 
imposed  or  levied  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  may  be 
revoked  only  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  section  four 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifteen,  Revisal  of  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  five,  for  revoking  special  taxes  in  a  special- 
tax  school  district. 

Sec.  8.  No  community  meeting  may  levy  a  tax  unless  a 
majority  of  the  registered  voters  of  the  community  are 
present  at  such  meeting  and  vote  by  ballot  for  such  tax; 
but  at  any  annual  community  meeting  a  majority  of  the 
voters  present,  whatever  their  number,  may  vote  to  submit 
the  question  of  levying  such  a  tax  to  the  qualified  voters  of 
the  community  at  an  election  to  be  held  not  earlier  than 
thirty  days  subsequent  to  such  meeting.  If  the  community 
meeting  shall  desire  to  submit  separately  the  question  of 
tax  levy  for  different  purposes,  it  shall  mention  a  name  of 
not  more  than  six  words  by  which  each  such  tax  shall  be 
designated,  as  for  example,  "Road  Tax,"  "Public  Library 
Tax";  or  such  community  meeting  may  submit  the  ques- 
tion of  a  tax  levy  for  various  purposes  under  the  title  "For 
Community  Tax."     At  the  election  herein  provided  for, 

each  voter  may  deposit  a  ballot  marked  "For 

Tax"  or  "Against   Tax";    and  if  a  majority 

of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  community  at  such  election, 
shall  vote  for  such  tax,  then  the  proposed  tax  levy  shall 
be  enforced  and  the  tax  collected  at  the  same  time  and  in 


120     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

the  same  manner  as  State  and  county  taxes  are  now 
collected,  or  such  incorporated  community,  through  its 
board  of  directors,  may  name  a  collector  of  community 
taxes  and  fix  his  compensation,  requiring  both  tax  collector 
and  treasurer  to  give  bond  for  proper  amounts. 

Sec.  q.  At  any  election  herein  provided  for,  the  board 
of  directors  may  act  as  election  officers,  judges  of  election, 
etc.,  and  the  ballots  shall  be  counted,  compared,  canvassed 
and  returned  in  the  same  manner  as  is  now  provided  for 
general  elections  in  the  various  counties  of  the  State.  The 
result  of  any  such  election  shall  be  certified  by  the  secre- 
tary of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  community  to  the 
clerk  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  who  shall 
record  the  same  in  the  minutes  of  the  said  board  of  county 
commissioners,  and  no  further  recording  or  declaring  of  the 
result  shall  be  necessary. 

Sec.  10.  The  Bureau  of  Community  Service  now 
directed  by  the  State  Departments  of  Education,  Agri- 
culture, and  Health,  the  State  College  of  Agriculture  and 
Engineering,  and  the  State  Normal  and  Industrial  College 
is  hereby  charged  with  the  duty  of  securing  from  the  com- 
munities of  the  State  incorporated  under  this  act  reports 
as  to  what  each  community  is  doing  for  the  promotion  of 
the  purposes  mentioned  in  section  six  of  this  act,  and  the 
aforesaid  Bureau  of  Community  Service  shall  furnish 
the  officers  of  such  incorporated  communities  forms  for 
keeping  records,  accounts,  etc.,  and  for  making  reports. 
Said  bureau  shall  also  provide  forms  and  instructions  to 
citizens  of  the  State  desiring  to  petition  for  incorporation 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  shall  publish  annually 
a  summary  of  the  work  accomplished  by  incorporated 
communities.  The  members  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
such  incorporated  communities  are  required  to  render  such 
reports  to  the  Bureau  of  Community  Service,  and  to  post 


APPENDIX  A  121 

copies  of  same,  together  with  an  itemized  statement  of 
receipts,  disbursements,  and  balances  for  the  year,  in  three 
public  places  in  the  community,  under  the  penalty,  upon 
conviction  of  a  fine  of  ten  dollars  each:  Provided,  that  all 
printing  required  under  this  act  shall  be  paid  for  by  the 
State  Department  of  Education. 

Sec.  ii.  Said  board  of  directors  may  adopt  standards 
for  the  production  and  marketing  of  produce,  canned 
vegetables,  etc.,  and  may  adopt  labels,  trade  names,  and 
brands  for  the  same,  and  regulate  their  use,  requiring  the 
inhabitants  of  said  community  to  comply  with  the  standards 
set  and  adopted  by  the  directors  before  they  can  use  the 
brand,  trade  name,  or  labels  for  said  community;  and  said 
board  of  directors  may  adopt  such  regulations  as  may  be 
necessary  to  protect  said  brands,  trade  names,  etc.,  may 
have  an  inspection  of  the  goods  sold  thereunder,  and 
may  take  any  and  all  necessary  steps  looking  to  a  system 
of  community  standard  production,  and  of  co-operative 
community  marketing. 

Sec.  12.  Any  person  violating  any  ordinances  adopted 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act  or  any  rule  made  by  the 
board  of  directors  or  other  governing  authority  authorized 
by  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor and  upon  conviction  shall  be  imprisoned  not 
exceeding  thirty  days  or  fined  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars, 
or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court.  Any  magistrate 
residing  within  the  boundaries  of  a  community  incorporated 
under  this  act  shall  have  the  power  to  hear  and  try  all 
cases  arising  from  violation  of  ordinances  adopted  by  such 
community:  Provided,  that  if  there  is  no  magistrate  residing 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  community,  or  if  the  com- 
munity shall  desire  an  additional  magistrate,  there  shall 
be  nominated  at  each  annual  meeting  some  suitable  person 
living  within  the  confines  of  the  community  who  shall, 


122      RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

upon  proper  certification  of  nomination,  be  appointed 
community  magistrate  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  with 
all  the  powers  of  a  magistrate  within  the  bounds  of  said 
community. 

Sec.  13.  The  board  of  directors  of  any  community 
organized  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  authorized 
and  empowered  to  employ  one  or  more  policemen  for  the 
community,  whose  duties  and  powers  shall  be  those  pre- 
scribed by  law  for  constables  for  the  townships  in  the  various 
counties  of  the  State;  and  the  said  policemen  shall  receive 
as  compensation  the  same  fees  that  are  now  prescribed  by 
law  for  constables. 

Sec.  14.  That  each  person  charged  with  the  duty  of 
registering  voters  in  an  election  precinct  embraced  in 
whole  or  in  part  in  any  incorporated  community  shall 
furnish  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  of  such 
incorporated  community  a  complete  list  of  the  registered 
voters  in  his  precinct  at  the  preceding  State  election,  and 
from  such  list  the  board  of  directors  shall  compile  an  official 
list  of  registered  voters  residing  in  the  community  for  use  in 
connection  with  the  enforcement  of  this  act,  such  registrar 
receiving  one-half  cent  for  each  name  so  furnished,  to  be 
paid  for  by  the  community. 

Sec.  15.  That  all  laws  and  clauses  of  laws  in  conflict 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  especially  chapter  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  of  the  Public  Laws  of  one  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  seventeen,  are  hereby  repealed. 

Sec.  16.  That  this  act  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after 
its  ratification. 

Ratified  this  10th  day  of  March,  a.d.  1919. 

EXPLANATION 

Under  this  act  rural  communities  may  be  incorporated 
and  chartered  in  the  same  general  way  as  cities  and  towns 


APPENDIX  A  123 

are  incorporated  and  chartered.  Though  this  has  not 
heretofore  been  allowed  in  our  State,  there  is  no  good  reason 
why  fifty  families  scattered  over  a  rural  school  district 
are  not  just  as  important  as  so  many  families  huddled 
together  in  a  town — and  just  as  deserving  of  the  privilege 
of  local  self-government. 

Because  the  law  has  not  been  tried  in  North  Carolina  and 
in  the  consequent  absence  of  recorded  ruling  of  courts 
relative  to  it,  there  seemed  to  be  a  chance  for  doubts  to 
arise  as  to  the  exact  legal  effect  such  incorporation  would 
have  upon  a  community.  With  a  view  to  setting  clearly 
before  the  people  the  intentions  and  actual  effects  of  the 
measure,  Governor  Bickett  recently  asked  the  Attorney- 
General,  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  others  to  confer  with  him.  After  thorough  discussion 
of  the  act  in  this  conference  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
prepare  this  statement  of 

PURPOSES    AND   EFFECTS 

The  committee  finds  that  the  incorporation  of  a  com- 
munity under  this  act 

1.  Will  not  change  the  standing  of  the  community  in 
relation  to  the  county  school  and  road  systems,  or  other- 
wise, nor  destroy  any  advantage  the  community  had  before 
incorporation. 

2.  It  simply  gives  to  rural  communities  the  same 
machinery  of  progress  that  is  given  to  towns  and  cities  by 
incorporation,  only  more  modern  and  extensive,  affording 
practical  means  for  giving  effect  to  the  finest  aspirations  of 
the  people. 

3.  It  will  enable  country  people  to  act  quickly  in  matters 
of  vital  importance  to  community  progress  which  might 
otherwise  be  injuriously  delayed  for  months  and  years. 


124     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

4.  It  will  enable  the  majority  of  a  community,  when  in  a 
progressive  mind,  to  compel  the  co-operation  of  an  indiffer- 
ent minority  and  the  observance  of  ordinances  approved 
by  the  majority. 

5.  It  will  give  a  name,  a  form,  and  definite  boundaries 
to  the  rural  community  and  will  steadily  develop  among 
the  inhabitants  a  feeling  of  local  patriotism,  pride,  and 
ambition  that  it  is  impossible  to  develop  otherwise. 

6.  It  will  make  the  school  and  the  schoolhouse  the 
center  and  rallying  point  for  all  activities,  agencies,  and 
plans  for  the  improvement  of  community  life  and  the 
advancement  of  community  progress  and  prosperity. 

7.  It  is  applied  democracy,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
traditions  and  genius  of  our  race.  Our  earliest  Saxon  fore- 
fathers had  their  "folk  moot,"  and  the  "town  meeting" 
of  colonial  days  was  but  an  expression  of  the  same  feelings. 
Thomas  Jefferson  declared  that,  next  to  public  educa- 
tion, America's  greatest  need  was  provision  for  giving 
every  rural  community  just  such  facilities  for  local  self- 
government. 

8.  In  short,  it  makes  progress  legal  and  binding  when 
favored  by  a  majority  of  the  community  instead  of  its 
being  probably  only  an  ineffectual,  effervescent  mass- 
sentiment. 


APPENDIX  B 
MAP  OF  RANDOLPH  COUNTY,  INDIANA 


APPENDIX  C 
MAP  OF  MARSHALL  COUNY,  IOWA 


INDEX 

Acquaintance,  forming,  24,  33,  64,  65,  86,  96,  106. 

Agriculture:  commercialization  of,  16;  scientific,  18. 

Allegiance:  to  center,  21-24,  106,  107;  to  district,  63,  64-67, 
106,  107. 

American  Red  Cross,  98. 

Antagonism  of  farmer  and  townsman,  19,  106. 

Area:  of  consolidated  school  district,  68,  75,  76,  83,  85,  87, 
88,  92-94;  of  Marshall  County,  Iowa,  71;  of  Randolph 
County,  Indiana,  59;  rubber  stamped,  95;  of  small  rural- 
school  district,  32,  34,  38;  trade,  21,  22,  28,  30. 

Banker  and  farmer  co-operation,  27,  67,  70. 

Big  Springs:   church  parish,  43-47;   map  of,  45;  school  district, 

37-41;  map  of,  38. 
Bloomington  Pantagraph,  87. 
Branson,  E.  C,  53,  54,  57- 
Butterfield,  K.  L.,  2,  3,  9-11,  17,  18,  50. 

Campbell,  Macy,  85,  86. 

Carlson,  Charles  G.,  84. 

Carver,  T.  N.,  100,  101. 

Chamber  of  commerce,  18,  27. 

Changes  in  rural  life,  15-20. 

Character  of  farmer  trade,  28,  29. 

Choice  of  people  in  forming  community  boundaries,  95,  96. 

Church  parish,  43-48;  compared  with  school  district,  46. 

City  man  understanding  the  farmer,  19,  20,  23,  53. 

Cohesion  of  population,  41,  84,  95,  96. 

Colorado  consolidated  school  district,  81,  82. 

Community:  boundaries  of,  57,  65,  66,  95,  96;  consciousness, 
23,  63,  64;  consolidated  school  district,  58,  63,  64,  75,  76, 
82-96;  high  school,  86,  87;  legal  rural,  56,  57,  111-13, 
116-24;  local,  4,  5,  112,  113;  size  of,  32,  3$,  37,  94,  955 
of  the  South,  52-55;  spirit,  36,  41,  55,  64,  94,  107. 

Consistency  of  local  unit,  113. 

125 


126      RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Consolidated  school:  educational  value  of,  63,  64,  88,  89,  105; 
high-school  department  in,  89-92,  95,  106;  social  or  com- 
munity value  of,  56,  57,  63-66,  86,  88,  89,  105-13. 

Consolidated  school  district:  amount  of  wealth,  82,  84,  91,  94, 
95;  area  of,  see  Area;  farmer  meetings  in,  see  Farmer 
meetings;  as  a  unit  for  rural  organization,  58-113. 

Contacts,  social,  14,  17,  18,  37,  41. 

Co-operation:  banker  farmer,  27,  67,  70;  of  farmer  today, 
15-18,  41;  through  organization,  5;  town  and  country, 
23,  24,  26,  27,  30,  67,  70,  71. 

Co-ordination,  of  forces  and  institutions,  4,  5,  n,  107,  108, 
112,  113. 

Decrease,  of  population,  36,  40,  60. 

Deitrich,  Carrie,  82. 

Density,  of  population,  54,  68,  84,  93,  94,  95. 

District,  of  consolidated  school,  see  Consolidated  school  district. 

Driver,  Lee,  60,  64,  65. 

Duke,  E.  A.,  87,  88. 

Duplication  of  experiments,  1. 

Fairlie,  John  A.,  48-50. 

Fairview  school  district,  34-37;  map  of,  35. 

Farm:  bureau,  98;  home,  13. 

Farmer:  banker  co-operation,  see  Banker;  boy  and  girl  high- 
school  education,  89,  90;  co-operator  of  today,  see  Co- 
operation; early  individualistic  type,  12-15;  meetings  in 
consolidated  school  districts,  64,  69,  70,  74,  77-79,  83; 
standard  of  living,  19,  53. 

Five  Points,  Alabama,  55,  56. 

Forces  in  rural  life,  n,  97,  104. 

Galpin,  Charles  J.,  14,  15,  19,  42,  53. 
Government,  local,  99,  112,  116-24. 
Grades,  classes  and  standards,  16,  17. 
Griest,  O.  H.,  62. 

High  school:    education  for  farmer  boy  and  girl,  see  Farmer; 

size  of,  90-92,  95,  106. 
Hodgson,  county  agricultural  agent,  67. 
Hopkins,  Cyril  G.,  7. 


INDEX  127 

Illinois:    community  high  school,  86,  87;    consolidated  school, 

86,  87. 
Incorporation,    North    Carolina    community    plan    of,    56,    57; 

law  concerning  the  plan,  116-24. 
Individualism,  of  farmer,  12-14,  17. 

Institutions:  organization  of,  98,  107;  of  rural  life,  13,  97. 
Iowa:  consolidated  school,  85,  86;  Marshall  County,  71-80. 
Iowa  Homestead,  85,  86,  89. 

Land:  basis  of  town  or  city,  21,  22,  28;  lack  of  policy  concern- 
ing, 4;  ownership  in,  3. 
Leadership,  rural,  41,  104,  105. 
Legalized  rural  community,  56,  57,  111-13,  116-24. 

McHenry  County,  North  Dakota,  83. 

Machinery  of  a  policy,  6,  9,  n,  107,  in,  113. 

McLean  County,  Illinois,  87. 

Marshall  County,  Iowa,  71-80;  map  of,  Appendix  C. 

Massachusetts  plan,  98,  99,  102,  103. 

Meetings  of  farmers  in  consolidated  school  districts,  see  Farmer. 

Melbourne  consolidated  school,  91,  106. 

Moore,  B.  C,  87. 

Morgan,  E.  L.,  7,  51,  103. 

National  Conference:  of  School  Consolidation,  88,  89;  of  Social 
Work,  98. 

New  England  town,  as  an  organization  unit,  49-52. 

North  Carolina:  Community  Incorporation  Plan,  56,  57;  Com- 
munity Service  Bureau,  109;  law  relating  to  the  incorpora- 
tion plan,  116-24. 

North  Dakota  consolidated  school  districts,  82,  83. 

Obligations  of  farmer  and  townsman,  23,  29,  3c,  67,  70,  106. 
Oklahoma  consolidated  school  districts,  87,  88. 
Orange  Township  consolidated  school  and  district,  86,  91. 
Organization:  of  institutions,  98-107;  machinery  for,  107,  in, 

113;  need  of,  99,  100,  105;  plans  for,  100-105. 
Organized  play,  108,  109,  no. 
Ownership  in  land,  3. 

Policy:  lack  of,  4;  land,  3;  machinery  of,  see  Machinery;  soil, 
7-9;  reasons  for,  1-11. 


128     RURAL  COMMUNITY  ORGANIZATION 

Population:  cohesion  of,  see  Cohesion;  decreasing,  see  Decrease; 

density  of,  see  Density;  farm,  36,  38;  size  of  for  community 

life,  37,  55,  60,  61,  72,  73;  town,  61. 
Principal  of  consolidated  school,  importance  of  position,  108. 

Randolph  County,  Indiana,  59-71;  map  of,  Appendix  B. 
Reading  matter,  on  the  farm,  19. 

School:    consolidated,  see  Consolidated  school;    small  scale,  see 

Fairview  and  Big  Springs. 
School  officers  of  consolidated  district,  98. 
Shutt,  C.  E.,  75,  76. 

Social  and  economic  activities,  related,  2,  3. 
Social  group  boundaries,  47,  49,  57,  65,  66,  80,  85,  95,  Appendix 

B  and  C. 
Social  value  of  the  consolidated  school  district,  see  Consolidated 

school. 
South,  community  of,  52-55. 
Standard  of  living,  town  and  country,  19,  53. 
Sullivan,  Indiana,  trade  area  of,  25-30. 

Team  work,  107. 

Town  and  country  co-operation,  see  Co-operation. 
Town,  New  England,  see  New  England. 

Township:    area  and  density  of  population,  68;    unit  of  organi- 
zation, 47-49,  84;  weakness  of  the  unit,  48,  49. 
Trade  area:    structure  of,  21-23;    of  Sullivan,  Indiana,  25-30. 
Trade  area  unit,  weakness  of,  24,  29,  30. 
Trade  of  farmer,  28,  29. 

Units  of  rural  community  organization,  see  Chaps.,  iii,  iv,  v,  vi,  vii. 

Vogt,  Paul,  19. 

Wilson,  Frank  T.,  103. 
Wilson,  Warren  H.,  13,  14,  31. 


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